Western Washington Area Health Education Center

Volunteer/Retired Providers

Malpractice Insurance Program

Are you a licensed medical, dental, vision or mental health professional, interested in providing volunteer service? Are you a clinic providing care to underserved patients, wishing to utilize volunteers? If so, you are fortunate to live in Washington state. The Volunteer/Retired Providers (VRP) Program is a unique program designed to support you, funded by the Department of Health.

The VRP Program encourages health care volunteers in Washington state by paying the malpractice insurance premiums for those providing non-invasive care to underserved patients. Volunteers who only use their Washington professional license for volunteer work are additionally eligible for free license renewal. All professional license and malpractice insurance costs, other than late fees and testing fees, are covered by the Washington state Department of Health. For medical providers, non-invasive care is defined to include the administration of injections, suturing of minor lacerations, and the incision of boils and superficial abscesses. Non-invasive dental care includes diagnosis, oral hygiene, restoration and extraction. Obstetric care, orthodontia and surgical treatments are not covered by our malpractice insurance.

Eligible professionals include:

  • Dentists
  • Doctors
  • Dental Hygienists
  • Nurse Practitioners
  • Physician Assistants
  • Pharmacists
  • Registered Nurses
  • Licensed Acupuncturist
  • Licensed Mental Health Providers
  • Licensed Vision Care Professionals
  • Other Healthcare Professionals Deemed in Short Supply by the Department of Health

There is no minimum number of service hours required of volunteers. Providers must be licensed in Washington state. Currently, non-invasive primary and specialty care is covered under the malpractice insurance.

Clinics wishing to utilize VRP-insured volunteers must be approved by our program. A list of all currently approved VRP sites is included below.

Approved VRP Sites

VRP Site Application Form. You will need Adobe Acrobat to download this document.

The approval process is very simple. The VRP site application form is included below. Please , Program Coordinator at or (206) 441-7137 for assistance or if you have questions about the application process. Applications may be completed over the phone and faxed to the clinic for final review and signature. The site approval process generally takes 30 minutes.

Download a Volunteer Malpractice Insurance Application

Individuals or groups wishing to volunteer may , Program Coordinator, at or (206) 441-7137 for malpractice insurance application packets or assistance. Malpractice insurance takes 3-5 weeks from the date of application to become activated.

Licensed health care professionals who are not currently using their Washington state license for paid work (such as retired professionals or people taking a leave of absence from their practice) are eligible for free license renewal, paid by the Washington State Department of Health. This benefit is intended to help eliminate barriers to volunteerism and increase access to health care for Washington’s neediest patients.

If you are a licensed health care professional, you wish to volunteer at a Volunteer/Retired Providers Program approved site, you are not currently using your license for paid work, and your professional license is due for renewal within the next three months, please use the form included below. Send all license renewal documents to the address included on the form itself.

Volunteer Professional License Renewal Form. You will need Adobe Acrobat to download this document.

VOLUNTEER RESOURCES

Pacific Northwest Dental Conference

Offers Support to Retired Volunteer Dentists

The Pacific Northwest Dental Conference will provide a complimentary conference badge to retired Washington State Dental Association member dentists who are participants in the Volunteer/Retired Providers Program.

WSDA dentists who are retired from practice, but wish to provide care as volunteers can do so in a variety of settings throughout the state. The PNDC will help retired dentist volunteers to eliminate their out-of pocket expenses for continuing education. By attending the Pacific Northwest Dental Conference, dentists can obtain up to 12 of the 21 continuing education hours required annually by the state. Dentist volunteers can earn another seven CDE hours by donating care in an approved program. Other hours can be obtained through self-study or CDE presentations at local component dental society meetings.

For information about the complimentary conference badge, please contact the Washington State Dental Association at (800) 448-3368 or

Legislation authorizing VRP Program

RCW 43.70.460. You will need Adobe Acrobat to download this document.

To review conditions placed on the VRP Program, go to RCW 43.70.470 (Retired primary care provider liability malpractice insurance - conditions).

The Federal Tort Claims Act and the Good Samaritan Law also provide avenues of support for volunteer/free clinic malpractice protection. This chart compares all three programs. You will need Adobe Acrobat to download this document.

The Washington Volunteer/Retired* Providers Malpractice Insurance Program is funded by the Washington State Department of Health and managed through the Western Washington Area Health Education Center.

* The definition of “retired” has been expanded to include providers with site-specific malpractice insurance coverage.

For more information, to sign up as a participating provider, or to request a clinic application, please at WWAHEC.

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Page updated 08/27/2009