A retired medical doctor with a desire to help those in need was the force behind 56 free clinics throughout the country and a federal law to exempt health care volunteers from medical malpractice liability, according to insurance industry and medical experts.

After a professional career that included co-inventing the tuberculosis tine test, creating the Tylenol tablet, assisting in the invention of the MRI, writing legislation for the Senate Human Genome Program and organizing the Institute for Human Genetics, Dr. Jack McConnell relocated to Hilton Head, S.C., from New Jersey to "play golf, eat at good restaurants and travel."

His plans, however, were eclipsed when he discovered the serious lack of health care faced by many of the people living on the island.

"What if they get hurt?" he worried, wondering where they would go for care.

Upon determining the extent of the island's need, he initially recruited 14 or 15 other retired doctors living in the area who expressed an interest. He then set out to organize a clinic, considering everything from a mission statement to a master budget, to a staff with a sense of humor.

To assist him, the South Carolina Joint Underwriting Association granted Dr. McConnell a special rate to avoid the high cost of medical malpractice insurance and to protect medical volunteers in his nonprofit clinic.

He obtained monetary backing for the remainder of the clinic's budget from corporations he had previously been involved with and other companies within the community. More than a year later, Dr. McConnell put on a grand opening for Volunteers in Medicine.

As the clinic gained national acclaim, he expanded the concept by forming the Volunteers in Medicine Institute to replicate the program--eventually making possible the development of 56 more clinics in the U.S.

But while the JUA discount "was okay for a while," Dr. McConnell said he pursued a federal law to protect medical volunteers nationwide, so crucial to the success of his clinics.

As a result, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) legislation was drafted, to which Dr. McConnell was able to add Section 194. This extended the FTCA to cover medical volunteers in free clinics all over the country.

Under the law, "once a clinic and its medical volunteers are deemed appropriate, if a lawsuit arises, the federal government is responsible for defense costs as well as any and all awards," said Amy Hamlin, director of the Volunteers in Medicine Institute.

"The government becomes the backup for the clinic," she continued. "It was written narrowly to provide an incentive for retired physicians and other medical professionals to volunteer in free clinics."

Although drafted in 1996, the law was not funded (or enacted) until 2004. Before the appropriate funding, Volunteers in Medicine continued utilizing its special rate and its other local free clinics around the country relied on a variety of methods, such as state volunteer immunity laws, to secure medical malpractice coverage, Ms. Hamlin said.

Dr. McConnell pointed out that there has never been a problem with malpractice within any of the clinics developed by the Volunteers in Medicine Institute. In fact, in the past 45 years, he claimed that South Carolina free clinics have seen only three lawsuits and none have gone to trial.

"The types of services we provide are not big ticket items," Ms. Hamlin said. "From a medical malpractice case perspective we don't do those kinds of services; we would expect to have a low suit rate."

Even with all his accomplishments, Dr. McConnell asserted that Volunteers in Medicine is his proudest accomplishment.

"I wanted an upbeat place, where people can come in and feel welcome and that they belong there," he said of his clinic.

"This is the most satisfying thing I've ever done...this is joy. Everything else in my career was fun--this is joy," he added.

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