SEQUIM — A volunteer who has earned awards at home and nationally will take over today from another extremely active volunteer as executive director of a free clinic in Sequim.
Jim Pickett is replacing John Beitzel in the unpaid position of executive director of the nonprofit Dungeness Valley Health & Wellness Clinic at 777 N. Fifth Ave., Sequim.
Beitzel, an Olympic Medical Center commissioner since 2008 and a 2003 recipient of the Clallam County Citizen of the Year Award, announced his retirement from the volunteer post last month.
Said Pickett: “I’m pleased to have been asked to take over the executive director position, knowing that it’s really running quite well now thanks to the long and devoted work of John Beitzel.”
The Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce named Pickett the 2010 Citizen of the Year for outstanding volunteer service.
Two weeks after receiving the local honor, he received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for his work with the Rotary’s ShelterBox project, which provides temporary shelter for survivors of natural disasters worldwide.
Pickett also received a Clallam County Community Service Award in 2007.
Beitzel involvement
Beitzel has served as executive director of the clinic for three years.
He has dedicated more than a decade of service to the clinic, beginning with his participation on Mary Griffith’s original founding committee right through to the clinic’s 10-year anniversary in October.
Beitzel was the clinic’s first executive director.
“I felt we really did need an executive director,” but the organization couldn’t afford one, Beitzel said.
“Our whole mission is direct care, and to divert money to hiring an executive director is hard to justify,” he said.
So, in 2009, after serving as president of the board, Beitzel resigned from the board to serve as the clinic’s first volunteer executive director.
“He did this to see the clinic through a tough economy, substantial growth in patient census and the simultaneous expansion of our facility and our patient services,” the clinic said in a statement.
Beitzel will continue to volunteer at the clinic, he said.
One of his roles will be to oversee the clinic’s annual September fun run fundraiser, which drew 270 people in September.
Beitzel is a founding officer of the Board of Washington Free Clinic Association and works on two committees of that organization.
Previously, Beitzel has worked with “Transforming Healthcare in Clallam County,” the Access to Healthcare Coalition, supporting the effort to establish fluoridation in the water system, and he co-founded the Sequim Area Health Alliance.
Beitzel also has served as Sequim planning commissioner and was a member of the Sequim City Council from 2000 to 2007.
Pickett was a founding member and first president of the Sequim Education Foundation and has served as an Olympic Peninsula Discovery Trail volunteer, an AARP safe driving class instructor, a leader of Sequim’s 1995 school bond drive, president of Friends of the Sequim Library, a city of Sequim Parks Advisory committee member, president of United Way of Clallam County and a hospice volunteer.
He has served on the clinic’s development committee for about six months.
“It’s a great group of volunteers,” he said, noting that few positions at the clinic are paid.
“We hope to continue with being able to recruit doctors and nurses to continue that work and continue to convince the public that free clinics actually save money,” Pickett added.
He said the role of the free clinic, which requests a donation of at least $5 from those it serves, is to help keep uninsured people out of hospital emergency rooms — which are often the default for people who lack routine medical treatment.
“Every person who doesn’t go to the emergency room is saving all of us money,” Pickett said.
Because of volunteer work, every dollar spent on the clinic nets about $2.50 worth of services, Pickett said.
Biggest savings
But that’s not the biggest savings.
“If you go to the ER, it may be $500 to $1,000. It’s expensive,” Pickett said.
“Those dollars are made up by taxpayers or insurance.”
The clinic provides free basic urgent care and chronic health care services to uninsured community members.
It is supported by more than 70 volunteers, including physicians, other professional health care providers and laypersons, and by private and public donations.
The Basic Urgent Care Clinic is open to patients Monday and Thursday evenings beginning at 5 p.m.
Those interested in supporting the clinic may phone 360-582-0218.
For more information, visit www.sequimfreeclinic.org.