HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (WSAV) – Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) Hilton Head Island clinic is focused not just on treating conditions, but on the wellness of patients. Doctors believe keeping folks healthy starts with a good diet, and VIM is helping make that happen. In addition to all its medical equipment, the clinic has a hydroponic garden, producing hundreds of pounds of lettuce, herbs and collard greens to distribute to patients. By giving out fresh foods for free, the hope is to get people into a pattern of eating well. "If I can prevent this illness, then that saves a whole lot of work and a whole lot of money for us and our patients moving forward," said Dr. John Newman, VIM Hilton Head executive director. "Right now, we're not there yet. Our balance is still unbalanced. I see almost 25,000 visits on illness, but we're up to 3,000 on wellness and the 3000 wellness visits. That number, hopefully, will keep coming up." Family Promise of Beaufort County presents Night of Promise The success of this program has VIM thinking bigger. The medical clinic has started construction on a much-needed parking lot expansion next to its current facility. Along with the parking spaces, Newman hopes to place close to 100 different fruit and vegetable trees and bushes around the concrete. "Our partners with Second Helpings have already got a great distribution to distribute it almost immediately to our community and need our partners in deep well have food that they're delivering," said Newman. "We've got partners in this, but, come on out and it says, 'Hey, I may not help you on the doctoring side, but you know what I can do? I can help you grow some food.'" If you would like to help with the wellness program, Newman says you can help purchase the trees or be a part of the growing process. The lot should be ready in January of next year. For more information about VIM, visit here.