Free Medical, Dental and Vision Clinic Draws Large People to Washington County Fairgrounds | Local
Buffalo dentist Jenna McCune speaks with a patient, who asked not to be named, before starting treatment at RAM’s dental clinic on Saturday at the Washington County Fairgrounds. The clinic had 20 treatment rooms divided by vinyl curtains to prevent the spread of COVID.
Dental assistants Gena Bailey, left, of Washington state and Kathy Izzo of Ballston Spa prepare dental supplies for the free Remote Area Medical clinic on Saturday at the Washington County Fairgrounds.
Salem Town supervisor E. Sue Clary, a volunteer at RAM’s Pop-up Clinic, helps a grandmother and grandson choose frames for their new glasses on Saturday at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Easton. RAM brings a mobile eyeglass lab to the clinics and grinds the lenses on site. The grandmother and grandson asked not to be named.
Volunteers April Rivkin, of Glen Rock, NJ, Meagan Fraser, of Pittsfield, Mass., And Zoe Borghard of Salem attend the patient registration table Saturday at the free RAM clinic at the County Fairgrounds Washington.
Daniella Wrobel and Medhi Mahammadli, both students at the University of Connecticut, and Sang Lee of Alexandria, Va., One of RAM’s main volunteers, wait for patients in an autorefractor at RAM’s Vision Clinic on Saturday at Washington County Fairgrounds.
EVAN LAWRENCE Special at The Post-Star
EASTON – The first patients arrived when the door to the Remote Area Medical USA clinic opened at midnight on Saturday, said Karen Weinberg, one of the community hosts who helped deliver the free health care services. RAM at the Washington County Fairgrounds this weekend.
RAM, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Rockville, Tennessee, provides quality free dental, eye, and medical care to underserved and uninsured people through pop-up clinics held in schools, parks exhibitions and convention centers.
Established in 1985 to provide healthcare in remote parts of the world, the organization focused on the United States in 1992, said Haley Harbin, digital media specialist at RAM. The Easton Clinic was one of three clinics in New York State this year and the first in this region.
“We go wherever we are invited,†Harbin said.
The Easton clinic offered services in internal medicine, family medicine and pediatrics, internal medicine, women’s health care, eye and dental care, colon cancer and blood sugar screening, physiotherapy, acupuncture, rapid HIV and hepatitis C tests, and COVID-19 vaccinations.
The services reflect which health care providers are available. For example, a physiotherapist “found out about the clinic at the last minute and called to volunteer,” Weinberg said. Other local practitioners included an acupuncturist, an optometrist, and dental and hygienist assistants.