Remote Area Medical Project 2003

Remote Area Medical Project update for 2003

Pictured above is Wise Airport, the recipient, along with an adjacent nearly empty industrial park, of millions in prok-barrel tax dollars. The result is more poverty for working people as shown by the record turnout at RAM for 2003. For some reason nobody will tell me, the yearly Rural Area Medical has been moved to Wise Fairgrounds in the Hurricane section of the county. It seems public officials are embarrased by all of this while handing out over $1 million to buy equipment for the airport so rich people can land private planes in the rain.

My wife and I recently drove through the airport to see if the reports of "nothing there" was really true. In the middle of a Saturday, we saw no planes landing, I saw nobody at the airport at all, but did see the Sykes call center (their only success at industrial recruitment) half-empty parking lot, and some people playing golf, and cows grazing in a pasture. No wonder public officials are so embarressed!

Below are three local news articles, you be your own judge.

Wise RAM breaks record for patients served

By SUZANNE TATE, Coalfield Progress Managing Editor

July 29, 2003

HURRICANE - Medical staff provided health care to 4,749 people over three days at the Wise County fairgrounds last week - the largest number ever treated at a Remote Area Medical exposition. On Friday, July 25, the event set a world record - treating 1,803 people, the highest number treated in one day at any RAM event. Nurse practitioner Teresa Gardner said experienced medical volunteers are what helped get so many people treated.

"It all boils down to the fact that most of the volunteers are repeaters," said Gardner, who works for the Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital Health Wagon. "They are efficient, they know the procedures and they know exactly what to do and how to move people through quickly."

Last year, 2,649 people were treated, up from 2,072 in 2001. The 2001 and 2002 figures were RAM records at the time. Those numbers grew by more than 2,000 additional patients this year. The medical outreach treated 4,457 adults and 292 children.

"It is so good to see so many people cooperating and to see people so glad to have these services," Jennifer Schaller-Ayers, a professor at the college of nursing at East Tennessee State University, said Friday. "But the numbers of people here today show how crappy our health care system is. This is something good to do and I wouldn't miss it, but people are falling through the cracks or they wouldn't need to be here today." This was Schaller-Ayers' third year of volunteering at RAM.

MEOC executive director Marilyn Maxwell echoed those sentiments.

"Every year I come out and it is so wonderful to see so many good people working together to help others," she said. "But there also is an overwhelming sadness of the amount of need out there. There are huge numbers of people going without basic care."

Gardner said she was "greatly surprised" by the total number of patient visits. "I was hoping we would top 3,000, since we were at about 2,600 last year," she said. "Still, even I was shocked that it was more than 4,700."

The numbers keep growing because the need is so great, Gardner said. "We are drawing from far away places. People are driving three to four hours to come to the event." On Friday, a woman who had been number 17 in line told volunteers she had been waiting in line since about midnight. Others said the person who was first in line Friday had waited since 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Gardner said she was touched by a telephone call Monday from a woman who lives near Abingdon and had been treated at RAM. The woman had been fitted for eyeglasses, had her teeth cleaned and learned she was eligible for financial assistance with her medications.

"She called and said she felt pretty when she woke up this morning, that we had made that happen for her," Gardner said. "That is what makes you feel great. To help someone else feel better."

Approximately $653,309 in care was administered, including $411,709 in dental care; $129,915 in eye exams and glasses; $103,995 in general medical tests and evaluations; and $7,690 for mammograms.

Wise County's medical outreach began in 2000 and had been held each year at Lonesome Pine Airport in Wise. This year, the event moved to the fairgrounds, which Gardner said was an excellent venue for the massive medical outreach. Patients were able to sit in shaded areas while waiting for care, and various buildings were used for patient privacy during exams.

Having 50 dental chairs made that care run smoothly and quickly, she noted. In past years, there have been about 25 dental chairs.

"The dentists and hygienists were processing patients so fast and doing a quality job that registration sometimes fell behind care," Gardner said. "Registration was getting medical history, vital signs and more and sometimes couldn't keep up with the dentists' speed. Fifty dental chairs made a huge difference."

RAM is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization that provides free medical care to people who cannot afford to pay - those who are uninsured, underinsured or unemployed. Services include eye exams and prescription glasses thanks to the Lions Club Mobile Screening Units and the Lions Club of Virginia; dental care, including cleanings, fillings and extractions; hearing exams, bone density tests, blood work, cholesterol and diabetes screenings, pulmonary checks, pap smears, cancer screenings and medication assistance.

ŠCoalfield.com 2003

Many waited overnight for medical care

Recycled Eyeglasses were distributed by the Lions Clubs

By SUZANNE TATE, Coalfield Progress Managing Editor July 29, 2003

WISE - People needing medical care waited in line overnight at the Wise County fairgrounds aiming to be among the first treated Friday at the fourth annual Remote Area Medical outreach. At 6:30 a.m., the line extended from the front gate to the road. RAM volunteers began processing patients around 7 a.m. By 8:30 a.m., the parking lot looked full and cars were being directed toward the horse show area.

By the end of the third and final day, the medical outreach had broken its own records for numbers of people treated as well as the RAM world record for the most patients treated in one day.

Patients formed a line at the main fair gate, then were directed to various stations based on their needs. A line of about 50 chairs sat adjacent to the entrance, offering people a place to sit while they answered questions about their medical history and needs.

The Virginia Dental Association staffed 50 dental chairs in the covered area in front of the Old McDonald's Farm building. Here, dentists filled and pulled teeth while hygienists cleaned teeth. Four dentists administered anesthesia to patients who needed it.

More serious dental procedures were done under a tent between the Old McDonald's Farm building and the fair exhibit building. The most serious, several full-blown surgeries, were performed at Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital in Norton.

Volunteer Suzanne Sherwin of Orange, and her husband, Ted, a dentist, traveled six hours to Wise. She works in the business office of his dental practice. This was the third year the couple volunteered at RAM.

Sherwin was helping patients move smoothly from one area to another and attending to their needs. Dental patients each had a small tray with a bib, cotton balls and three colored forms - white, pink and blue - documenting their needs and care. Patients who might need more anesthesia were given metal syringes to take to their stations.

Some dentists prefer to use their own hand tools, Sherwin noted. Still, an entire table was full of dental hand tools for the dentists to use.

"This is the most organized, most well run effort I have seen," she said. "It is like a MASH unit, really."

Several dentists and hygienists commented about the move to the fairgrounds, agreeing that the outside venue offered better air flow and kept patients and staff cooler.

Patients left the chairs with free samples of toothpaste and new toothbrushes.

A total of 1,449 people received dental care during RAM - 1,302 adults and 147 children. The care included 2,681 extractions, 1,101 fillings, 1,032 exams and 382 cleanings.

The Virginia Dental Association has three volunteer projects each year as part of its Missions of Mercy project, called MOM. The dental volunteers provide free care on the Eastern Shore, in Northern Virginia and for RAM in Wise, which is the largest of the efforts.

HEARING, VISION SCREENINGS

The Lions Club of Virginia brought its mobile screening units to perform sight and hearing exams and to provide prescription eyeglasses. The mobile units were set up on the paved area that is the midway for the fair.

Patients sat on folding chairs under tents while waiting for their screenings. The mobile units rumbled softly, their engines running.

Lions members from local clubs and other clubs in Virginia volunteered for the effort. Representatives from the Leader Dogs for the Blind program, which trains seeing eye dogs to help blind people, explained the program and had a seeing eye dog at the fairgrounds to show passersby.

Norton Lions members Bob Phelps and Sammy Sensabaugh greeted people having vision checks and directed them to their screenings. Tony Roberts of Norton, who is a former district governor of the Lions Club of Virginia, was instrumental in getting the mobile screening units to RAM.

Inside a building normally used for concessions during the fair were rows and rows of boxes full of prescription lenses, each marked with their magnification. Outside the building was a table covered in eyeglass frames.

During the three-day event, 326 people had eye exams and 814 people had eye exams and received eye glasses.

OTHER CARE

College students from University of Virginia's College at Wise, as well as medical students from the University of Virginia and the Medical College of Virginia, helped answer questions for people receiving care and directed them to the appropriate station.

Ninety-three women were given mammograms, a test used to detect breast cancer. These tests were administered by UVa Health System's mobile mammography unit, which was parked near the hearing and vision screening units on the midway.

In the agricultural exhibit building and in a small building to the right of the main stage, 2,067 people were given general medical exams.

Food was coordinated by Appalachian Regional Community Head Start and was set up on the main fair stage. On Friday morning, volunteers could choose from orange slices, baked good, hard candy and cold water. By 10:30 a.m., hamburgers and hot-dogs were being cooked on an enormous charcoal grill. Ten cases of hamburgers, 10 cases of hot-dogs and buns to match were donated by Norton Community Hospital. Throughout the fairgrounds, volunteers kept coolers filled with ice and cold drinks for patients and volunteers.

Mountain Empire Older Citizens devoted three vans to the fairgrounds for RAM, shuttling volunteers and patients on the site. The agency also used its fleet to bring patients to the fairgrounds for medical care.

EXIT SURVEYS

Once patients were treated, they were asked to fill out an exit survey asking them how services could be improved. Volunteers also were asked to fill out a survey that asked how far they had traveled, whether their employer helped pay some or all of their expenses and where they had been lodged.

Jennifer Schaller-Ayers, a professor at the college of nursing at East Tennessee State University, was distributing the surveys and collecting them. She said the surveys were aimed at continuing to improve RAM - to offer the services patients most need and to make sure volunteers get the support and resources they need to keep giving their time. ŠCoalfield.com 2003

The dental operations were set up in an airport hanger

Free health care draws thousands to Wise County

Saturday, July 26, 2003

By Clifford Jeffery Times-News

WISE - The Wise County Fairgrounds opened to residents attending the annual Remote Area Medical Health Expedition Friday at 6 a.m. But for many area residents seeking free medical and dental help, the event started the night before.

Arthur Pabst and Connie Mullins of Clintwood got in line outside the fairgrounds at 10:30 p.m. Thursday. With no health insurance, the two were seeking the free dental care offered by dentists and dental students at the health expedition. This was Pabst's first time at the event. It was Mullins' second.

Gary and Tina Fleming of Dixon County were behind Pabst and Mullins. They arrived at the fairgrounds at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. They sat in their car until 11 p.m., then got in line. They stood in line for the next 13˝ hours, all for free dental checkups.

David Merchant of Coeburn was among the first 200 people to receive attention by RAM staff. Merchant was still sleeping under a blanket on the ground when the line started moving at 6 a.m. Next to him sat three women from Coeburn who called in sick to work so they could get in line. Volunteers brought coffee and doughnuts to the patients who had been standing in line much of the night.

Tonya McCowan of Clintwood got in line about 6 a.m. with her three children, ages 8, 4 and 1. McCowan arrived just as the gates were opened at 6 a.m., but she was already behind more than 800 people who took their place in the line throughout the night.

The logistics of caring for so many people in such a short time requires a lot of work from volunteers at the expedition.

The burden of just feeding 3,000 patients and almost 1,000 volunteers over three days is immense.

Bill Bowen, executive director of Appalachian Regional Community Head Start Inc., and Rich Evans, a Richmond volunteer with experience in the restaurant industry, are both working to keep the RAM staff and patients from going hungry. "We have enough to feed about 5,000 people," Bowen said.

The fairgrounds kitchen is stacked with food, and behind it sits three semi trailers. They are also filled with food and water, Bowen said. The food is donated to RAM. It comes from area food banks including Second Harvest Food Bank and is donated by churches and the Lions Club of Virginia.

Many of those distributing the food are members of Lions Clubs. "About 35 to 40 volunteers a day help get the food to those who are hungry, and it's all free," Bowen said.

Residents waited patiently at stations throughout the expedition. Paula Pratt of Norton sat on a folding seat. A sign taped to the seat said she was the 12th patient. Waiting for her turn in the dental surgery tent, Pratt said she doesn't like visits to the dentist.

"I'm going to have 23 extractions," she said. Pratt came at 2 a.m. to stand in line. She didn't relish the thought of opening her mouth for a dentist, but the alternative was worse. "I can handle seeing the dentist. I know that it is going to end," said Pratt, who added that she has lived with a toothache for too long.

Other patients faced less painful exams. McCowan came to the fairgrounds for an eye exam. The Lions Club of Virginia gave patients eye exams and hearing tests in specially furnished recreational vehicles.

Lion William Plummer of New Baltimore is the head technician on one of the mobile testing vehicles. All the technicians receive a year of training and regular monthly training, Plummer said. After having their eyes and ears tested, patients can get glasses and hearing aids, all from the Lions, Plummer said.

Some patients come to the expedition with problems too complicated to be diagnosed in the tents and RVs at the fairgrounds.

In those situations, patient information can be sent with telemedicine technology to specialists in other areas of the state. Through the telemedicine connection, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, has connected hospitals, clinics, schools and health departments in Southwest Virginia.

Specialists in Charlottesville can help those who would ordinarily have to travel outside the area for services. During a visit to the expedition Friday, Gov. Mark Warner spoke about the need for more telemedicine centers.

Warner announced that Medicaid coverage of telemedicine procedures is being expanded. Warner said a broadband connection and equipment for telemedicine will be placed in the Clinchco health clinic.

"Telemedicine is an investment in the people of Dickenson and Wise counties," said Sister Bernadette Kenny. Kenny works as a nurse with Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital Health Wagon.

Warner also spoke about the need for a health care system that would make health expeditions unnecessary.

"When I created the Virginia Health Foundation 10 years ago, I thought it wouldn't be needed by this time. But 10 years later, there are still a million Virginians without health care," he said. The health expedition continues through Sunday.

By Clifford Jeffery

The government just doesn't get it.

See Worlds Apart by Cynthia Duncan
Empty Platitudes on the Poverty Tour by Bill Bishop

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