~ Press release provided by the Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps
LURAY, July 10 — Remote Area Medical – RAM® – a major nonprofit provider of pop-up clinics delivering free, quality dental, vision and medical care to those in need – is seeking volunteer medical, dental and vision professionals and general support staff for its Sept. 30 through Oct. 1 clinic. The two-day clinic is to be held at Luray High School, 243 Bulldog Drive.
RAM is also in need of general support volunteers to help set up on Friday, Sept. 29 and take down on Sunday, Oct. 1. Overnight parking staff to greet patients is also needed, and interpreters can volunteer to aid patients through the process, either in the parking lot or during clinic operations.
Individuals do not need to work in the medical field to volunteer as general support.
If you or your organization would like to volunteer your time to help provide free healthcare services to the Luray, Va. and surrounding communities, please visit our website at www.ramusa.org or call us at 865-579-1530.
All RAM services are free, and no ID is required. Free dental, vision and medical services will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
Services available at a RAM free clinic include dental cleanings, dental fillings, dental extractions, dental X-rays, eye exams, eye health screenings, eyeglass prescriptions, eyeglasses made on-site, women’s health exams and general medical exams.
Founded in 1985 by Stan Brock, Remote Area Medical – RAM® is a major nonprofit organization whose mission is to prevent pain and alleviate suffering by providing free, quality healthcare to those in need. To accomplish this, RAM operates pop-up clinics delivering free, quality dental, vision and medical services to underserved, uninsured and underinsured individuals who do not have access to, or cannot afford, a doctor.
RAM was initially founded to serve as a provider of free medical care in remote areas of developing countries, such as Guyana, Mexico and Haiti. Almost immediately after beginning operations, RAM began receiving requests to operate clinics in the United States. This ultimately led to the operation of the first American RAM clinic on May 9, 1992 in Sneedville, Tenn. Today, more than 95 percent of all RAM operations take place domestically.
In order to treat as many people as possible, RAM recruits volunteers for the operation of its pop-up clinics. RAM volunteers include licensed nurses, physician assistants, doctors, dentists, dental hygienists, optometrists, ophthalmologists, opticians, veterinarians, veterinary technicians, veterinary assistants and pre-professional students, as well as general support volunteers. Since 1985, nearly 200,000 RAM volunteers have treated more than 910,500 individuals, delivering more than $189.5 million worth of free healthcare services. RAM’s average value of care per individual since 2016 is $305 each.
In 2022 alone, RAM provided nearly $8 million in medical services for nearly 22,000 people through nearly 14,000 volunteers.
In 2020, RAM launched an innovative, free Telehealth Program to continue breaking down barriers to care. This new program connects volunteer healthcare practitioners with patients seeking health services through free online appointments. Since 2020, RAM has provided more than $65,000 worth of free telehealth care.
In addition to pop-up clinics, RAM continues to operate a disaster relief program. In 2019, RAM held a dental clinic in Nassau, Bahamas in response to Hurricane Dorian, delivering more than $220,000 in free care. RAM held a free dental, vision and medical clinic in Lake Charles, La., in November 2020, delivering care to hundreds of individuals in a community reeling from the impact of two devastating hurricanes. In 2022, Remote Area Medical held a vision clinic in Bowling Green, Ky. and a vision and medical clinic in Mayfield, Ky. following a historic tornado outbreak. Over the span of those two clinics, RAM served 351 individuals with $95,140 worth of free care.
For more information about RAM,
visit https://www.ramusa.org/
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