While politicians in Washington were playing chicken with the financial stability of the world this weekend, blatantly ignoring the needs of America's poor, sick and unemployed, two hundred and fifty miles west by southwest of DC seventeen hundred volunteers, including 1000 medical professionals, were doing serious work -- providing dental, vision and medical services to the needy and uninsured.
Yup, Remote Area Medical (RAM) was at it again -- for the twelfth time in Wise, Virginia.
From the Kingsport, Tennessee, TimesNews:
Upwards of 4,000 people shrugged off the muggy heat of a Friday simmering its way toward sweltering as the 12th annual Remote Area Medical (RAM) Health Expedition got under way at the Wise County Fairgrounds...
Gates opened for patient registration at 6 a.m., and by 7 a.m. all 1,500 dental and eye care slots for the day had been filled, with another 200 to 300 people opting for the medicalservices-only line...
The first day of the clinic was Friday, but
Datha Fields of Kingsport arrived at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, camped out in his van, and was fifth in line for Friday's opening.
Not first, fifth!
Of course, leave it to politicians to nearly destroy RAM's ability to function:
A few months ago, it wasn't clear whether this year's Remote Area Medical expedition would happen, said Teresa Gardner, executive director of the Health Wagon, a local nonprofit that sponsors the annual event.
The trouble, she said, was funding. Her state funding has been cut in each of the last few years, she said, and donations have dropped with the state of the economy.
"We're doing $2 million worth of free care this weekend. I can't get a line item in the state budget to cover $60,000 [for event costs]," Gardner said. "Believe me, they [legislators] all show up, but I don't know, we're somehow forgotten when they leave."
Gardner said if the state funded RAM, it would save millions in Medicaid and other state program costs down the road.
To the rescue (as unlikely as it might seem) was a health insurance managed care company, Amerigroup, one of who's employees is the sister of Virginia's Republican governor:
This year, she ((Gardner)) said it was a corporate donor that saved RAM: Amerigroup, a health insurance managed care company that helps run state health programs for the poor in 11 states, including Virginia and Tennessee.
The CEO of the company, Jim Carlson, said he didn't realize how desperate RAM was for funding -- but he'll definitely be back next year with money and volunteers.
"I'd say there's a whole lot of people here that helped save RAM," said Carlson. "It's the collective contributions of everybody that make this event what it is, but we're happy to help."
Maureen McDonnell, spokeswoman for Amerigroup, said the company brought about 30 volunteers and donated $60,000 to the RAM clinic in Wise, out of a total $150,000 put toward the larger effort that puts on these clinics...
McDonnell is the sister of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who is scheduled to visit RAM today for the first time.
So thanks Mr. Carlson and Amerigroup!
And thanks to volunteers like Dr. Pauline Leong & her colleagues...
In Wise, the clinic is staffed by volunteers like Dr. Pauline Leong, an optometrist from New York City who carpooled with four colleagues to spend the weekend helping patients for free. She said they came for the first time as optometry students; three years later, they're back as eye doctors. While the drive is long, she said the patients make it worthwhile.
"We can tell that we made an improvement in the patients' lives in some way," she said. "Even if it's just a pair of glasses, just eye drops for dryness and burning, we know we've improved their quality of life."
who are able to help some people that government bureaucracy has failed:
Dr. Calvin Miller... recalls a patient who came last year came to RAM with very poor vision and whose life was changed.
Though only in his 40s, the man had such bad cataracts that he couldn't drive or work. But because he was unable to get certain records, he couldn't qualify for Medicaid. He was seen by eye doctors at RAM and, a few months later, had cataract surgery done for free in Roanoke.
Miller said the surgery, which typically costs a few thousand dollars, changed the man's life because now, he can see...
"Now he's a contributing member of society rather than dependent on society."
Imagine that. Even a Tea Party crazy might concede there's some value to that. (ha ha, just kidding.)
RAM's next clinic is scheduled for August 1st, in Joplin, MO, with another big one in Chicago three weeks later. You can volunteer using their website.
-----
For more on RAM, here's some diaries I wrote up back in April concerning their clinics in California: