He's more Marcus Welby, M.D, than Grey's Anatomy.
He makes house calls, and likes to shoot the breeze with patients, and now, Dr. Monty McClellan has opened up a medical practice on Moline's Avenue of the Cities, to serve the uninsured and under-insured in the area.
The 71-year-old physician is charging $29 for children's visits, $49 for adults, targeting patients who may have high co-pays and deductibles. Some are overwhelming emergency rooms, for non-emergency illnesses, because they are not in an insurance network.
"There is a need. People that wind up going to the emergency room, it's a minimum of $125 , that's pretty tough on the pocketbook," said Dr. McClellan.
He has already retired once, but returned to the Quad Cities with his wife to stay close to his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
The clinic at 4011 Avenue of the Cities opened last week. It is a work in progress, a mission for the veteran doctor who says he wants to help give back to the community and help those in need.
The office doesn't accept Medicare or Medicaid. Other than the doctor, it has a paid staff of one. His wife works on a volunteer basis.
Patients are given proper paperwork to submit their own insurance claims, if they have coverage.
"I have tried to structure it in a way to make it easier to run, less dollars," said Dr. McClellan. He says he still makes house calls for patients in need, just like he did as a family physician in Aledo, Illinois for two decades.
"I can't just talk to patients for two, three minutes. It takes me longer than that. It's about the relationship with patients," he said. "The loss of the relationship with a patient. Physicians need to be a little bit more dedicated."