Hundreds of people got free medical care in Fishersville this weekend, when the national nonprofit Remote Area Medical set up a pop-up clinic at the Augusta Expo Event Center. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi visited and filed this report.
[sound of background chatter, equipment running]
Augusta Expo was thronging with organized action on Saturday, with a line of patients entering the main event center that, at other times, hosts antique sales, wedding receptions, and sporting events. Remote Area Medical, or RAM, had transformed the space into separate bays for triage, general medical, vision, and dental care. The main room was nearly full of clear plastic tents, each hooked up to a ventilation system.
LINDSEY ALLISON: This is our dental floor. We've got 40 dental operatories set up, and so our standard size is about 20, so this is about double what we normally do. So we are absolutely rocking and rolling today.
Lindsey Allison is a clinic coordinator with RAM. This is the third time the nonprofit has held a clinic in Fishersville in collaboration with a RAM chapter at UVa.
ALLISON: We've got general medical services along with women's health services. … They're doing some physical therapy. The host group here has worked really hard, brought in a ton of community resources, including a clothing closet, a food bank, we've got a chiropractor, we're doing haircuts back there. They've gotten a lot of books in English and Spanish for children, and games and toys to play with while they're waiting. We've also got our mobile denture unit here today, so they are actually printing dentures on-site.
These clinics rely on volunteer labor – both from medical providers from across the region and support staff, including college students. Taara Verma is a sophomore studying pre-med at the University of Maryland College Park.
TAARA VERMA: We're on buckets for dental disinfection.
She's from Maryland, between D.C. and Baltimore, but is interested in rural healthcare. This was her first RAM clinic and she was on her phone signing up for more when I caught her during a break.
VERMA: So we go into each room and we sterilize the suctions. We get rid of all the blood. We dispose of the trash bags. We change out the sheets on the beds the patients lay on.
HAGI: That seems like kind of a rough job, with all the cleaning.
[both laugh]
VERMA: You can't be squeamish. There's a lot of blood. And spit.
This was RAM's first clinic back in Fishersville since Augusta Health closed three clinics in Rockbridge and Augusta counties in response to Medicaid cuts, other changes in federal funding, staffing issues, and decreasing populations. The hospital's Community Health Needs Assessment, published in May of last year, said that finding a doctor, getting an appointment, and the costs of visits and prescriptions were barriers for about half of survey respondents. Over a quarter did not have a primary care physician or other source of ongoing medical care.
The RAM clinic served more than 585 people this weekend. All services were provided completely free on a first come, first served basis – no insurance or even ID required.
Amanda Andrews drove up from Natural Bridge in Rockbridge County.
AMANDA ANDREWS: Oh gosh, honey I got here at 5:30.
She said there were already three rows of cars lined up across the giant gravel lot by then. Andrews came for vision services. It had been 10 years since she got a new pair of glasses, but on Saturday, she walked out with a pair of maroon frames fitted with her new prescription.
ANDREWS: Well, I don't have insurance right now, so this right here is the best. And even some insurances don't … pay for very good glasses. … I appreciate everything that they do – people get their medical care, their dental care and vision care and don't have to pay nothing. These days and times, you know, it's hard to get that stuff.
Dr. Megan Moore, an optometrist from Roanoke who practices in Lynchburg, noted that these services can be cost prohibitive for people with insurance, too. At midday, Moore was stationed at a computer, reviewing images of the cells inside patients' eyes.
MEGAN MOORE: We were doing fundus images, which are pictures of the inside of the back of the eye, explaining to a lady about how her diabetes is affecting her eyes.
In addition to providing care and making eyeglasses, they also refer patients to specialists in the region as needed.
MOORE: I mean, I had a lady earlier that had an elevation, and so we're going to refer her to an ophthalmologist. … So, she has a little, kind of like a retinal cyst, so we don't exactly know what the causative thing is for it. … She needs to see a specialized ophthalmologist.
Moore was accompanied by her daughter and daughter's boyfriend, who also volunteered in the vision ward.
MOORE: You know, we like giving back to the community. We've been to different areas, so this is the first time we've been in Fishersville. We were in Lexington a few months back, we've been to Grundy a couple of times, you know, remote medicine is definitely – these are communities that just do not have great access, period.
The next clinic in our area will be held at Luray High School in September. More information about their services and how to pitch in are available at ramusa.org.
