You could say that maybe if we had thousands of philanthropic physicians like Grant Scarborough and those who support him, our country could provide affordable health care for all. Maybe we wouldn’t need single-payer or Medicare for all to solve the crisis of exploding costs and millions without healthcare insurance. Of course, that alone would not solve the problem.
Dr. Scarborough is Founder and Executive Director of Mercy Med. It’s a religiously inspired non-profit organization that provides healthcare for the poor. He and his paramedics treat anyone who walks in the door of his clinic in the former CB&T banch building on 2nd Avenue whether they have insurance or not. Speaking to the Rotary Club of Columbus, he said, “individuals come in and pay an average of 28 dollars and get over 300 dollars of health care. It’s a great deal.” If someone comes in who is making more than $45,000 a year, he’ll charge them 45 dollars for an office visit. What if you are homeless and can’t pay? No one gets turned away.
It’s also a great deal for hospitals with emergency rooms, because clinics like his save them millions of dollars. Many of those who use clinics like his would simply go to the hospital emergency rooms for their treatment if those clinics did not exists.
He is motivated by the lesson of the Good Samaritan parable that the Bible says was told by Jesus Christ. The Good Samaritan stopped to help the man who had been beaten and robbed. Took him to an inn and gave the innkeeper money to care for him, and said he would back and give the innkeeper more if more was needed. And Dr. Scarborough invites us to join him in his quest. He said, “I encourage you to get involved with us or with another ministry, or with another country, and consider, and then be kind to the poor by loving your neighbor.”
I said earlier that having thousands of doctors like Dr. Scarborough might solve our healthcare crisis. However, physicians ares only part of the picture. There are other elements involved, things like hospitals, labs, diagnostic centers, and pharmaceutical and insurance companies.
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