Taking Action to Prevent Burnout
While practicing medicine, Rich Sagall, MD, acquired multiple ancillary skills in anticipation of the day when providing care one-on-one to patients would no longer satisfy his sense of purpose.
Dr. Rich Sagall is a very busy physician entrepreneur these days. As co-founder and president of the 501(c)(3) non-profit NeedyMeds, he is reaping the rewards of having pursued his passion — helping those whose circumstances make it a significant challenge to receive affordable health care treatments and services.
Over 25 years ago, Rich began his clinical life as a family physician in practice and went on to work in occupational medicine, before ultimately moving full-time into his own non-profit start-up.
On the advice of his father, he wisely looked ahead while still practicing clinical medicine, and anticipated the day when providing care one-on-one to patients would no longer satisfy his sense of purpose. He began to acquire multiple ancillary skills, including computer programming and competency with the Internet.
A chance conversation with a medical social worker colleague, Libby Overly, provided his next opportunity and NeedyMeds was born in 1997.
NeedyMeds started almost as a hobby and has evolved to the point that it was named one of the Top 50 Non-Profit Best Places to Work in 2013, alongside such luminaries as the American Heart Association, the Alzheimer's Association and The LIVESTRONG Foundation. Its statement is as follows:
The mission of NeedyMeds has been, since its inception, to make information about assistance programs available to low-income patients and their advocates at no cost
