RAM expedition an unfortunate success

A record number of people received care at this year’s Remote Area Medical health expedition in Wise, organizers say, but a record number of patients also were turned away.

“Unfortunately, it was a success,” said Teresa Gardner, executive director of The Health Wagon, which coordinates the annual Wise event. “Our success is a failure of the health care system.”

Gardner said the higher number of people that showed up this year is an indication of the growing need for affordable health care in the region.

According to preliminary figures, 2,539 people were seen Friday through Sunday during the event at the Wise County Fairgrounds – slightly more than last year and expected to be higher when final numbers are tabulated.

There were 1,898 volunteers preregistered for the event, but there was not enough time and manpower to help everyone, officials said.

Hundreds – and perhaps 1,000 – of would-be patients were turned away, said Jean Jolly, Wise RAM coordinator and volunteer coordinator for Remote Area Medical.

“It is extremely difficult to turn people away because we are in the business of providing free health care,” Jolly said. “It becomes almost our responsibility to provide that health care to as many people as we can possibly see.”

Gardner said the preliminary estimate for the value of care provided exceeds $1.5 million, but it and final patient numbers are expected to be about 10 percent more than preliminary figures show.

Three more RAM clinics are scheduled for the region in the next few months; the doors will open at each event at 6 a.m.

The next one in Tennessee is scheduled for Aug. 9-10 at Cleveland High School, while another is scheduled Sept. 20-21 at Limestone Cove Community Center in Unicoi County.
The next one scheduled for Virginia is Oct. 4-5 at Riverview Elementary School in Grundy.

Jolly said there are two reasons for the concentration of free health care events in Virginia and Tennessee – this is a distressed area with high rates of poverty, and both states have reciprocity rules that make it easy for health care providers to volunteer here.

“What we really need is legislation at the federal government that allows medical professionals from throughout the United States to cross all state borders,” Jolly said. “Take those fences down and allow someone from one state to come in and do free volunteer charitable work for a limited time.”

The federal government, Jolly said, also should provide the funding for more free health care events around the country – and, ultimately, devise a plan to provide care to all Americans.

“We’re just a Band-Aid” she said.