Dr. James Hicks honored by Project Access Now

Posted May 07, 2009

Helping uninsured patients pass through the health care system with dignity is one of the goals of Project Access NOW, a regional organization that coordinates volunteer care in northwest Oregon and southwest Washington. A leader in meeting this charge has been James “Judge” Hicks, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine. Dr. Hicks was recently honored by Project Access NOW for serving as founding chairman of the Board of Directors since 2007.

“Judge has been really important in helping us find our way,” said Linda Nilsen-Solares, executive director of Project Access NOW. “His belief in the organization was instrumental in making it happen.”

The idea behind Project Access NOW, Dr. Hicks said, is to have the commitment to care for the patients in advance, and then to tap into it when needed. “When a patient meets the guidelines, we give him a card, which is a passport into our system for a specific diagnosis.” With thousands of physicians in the area signed on, this process helps ensure equity, so not just a few people are providing the care.

Recruiting the physicians was one of Dr. Hicks’ tasks. “He recruited our first few hundred physicians regionally – no small task,” Nilsen-Solares said. All OHSU specialty clinicians participate in the program, which has already enrolled approximately 1,000 patients since it opened its doors in March 2008. “We simply would not be where we are today were it not for his efforts and commitment,” she said.