Post by Bonobo on May 31, 2009 0:04:57 GMT 1
I just read an article in Newsweek Poland and found its counterpart in English. This is really shocking. I knew that health care is expensive in US but didn`t know such things happen - that a medical charity whose aim was to give relief in 3rd world countries has so much work in US. Amazing.
By Jeff Swicord
Knott County, Kentucky
23 December 2008
An organization whose mission is to bring free health care to some of the poorest countries in the world has turned its attention to the U.S. The U.S. Census Bureau reports nearly 46 million Americans have not health insurance. And so several weekends a year, an organization called Remote Area Medical (RAM), flies doctors and equipment to some of poorest areas of the country and treats patients at a cost of under $4 each.
Doors open early
At six a.m., in the hills of Eastern Kentucky, Stan Brock opens the doors to his Remote Area Medical Clinic or RAM.
Normally, there would be 1,000 people in line waiting for free medical care. Below freezing temperatures have brought out a smaller crowd. Stan Brock founded Remote Area Medical 23 years ago to bring care to developing countries. Soon after, he went to a rural county in the U.S. And we were asked if we could go up there with a few dentists, because they had a lot of dental problems in the area," Brock recalled. "And we did, and were surprised by the turnout. And from there it just grew."
RAM clinic operations depend on a volunteer medical staff
Several times a year, RAM sets up its remote clinic in places like Knott County, Kentucky for a weekend. Known for its rolling hills, this is coal mining country. Many residents work low wage jobs and cannot afford to see a doctor.
RAM depends entirely on volunteers. On this weekend, six eye specialists, 24 dentists and an assortment of other physicians and volunteers will treat almost 1,000 patients.
At 4 a.m. Saturday, the parking lot was already bustling with activity. Danny Sloan and his family had been waiting all night. "I am looking for eye glasses and a cancer screen," Sloan explained.
RAM serve Americans in rural communities
In the U.S., government provided health care is more easily available to children, than adults. Most of the people here have jobs, but still can not afford health care.
James Francis, is unemployed. RAM is his only chance to see a doctor. "I was telling my girlfriend, I said, I need to get up about four o'clock and get up there," Francis said. "And then when I got here at five, I was already number 82. So that shows how important this was."
Nearly 46 million people are uninsured in the U.S. but Brock says he sees many who have insurance. Their most common need is for dental and eye care. "They have insurance and it either has a very high copay, and so they can't afford the copay, or it doesn't cover those two essential services," Brock stated.
Later in the evening, Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Daniel Mongiardo, a physician, stopped by to talk with some of the volunteers. The topic quickly turned to why so many people in the U.S. have no access to health care. "The health care system is broken," Mongiardo explained. "It doesn't matter who pays for this inefficient very expensive system. The problem is the system cost too much for anybody to afford."
After hours of standing in line, after all the poking and prodding, Patients like Sandy Ekridge leave with more than just fixed teeth. "Teeth and glasses," she said.
Remote Area Medical plans more expeditions in the U.S. as well as to Africa and South America.
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In the Appalachian mountains of eastern Kentucky, the sick and uninsured have learnt to wait.
If there is any doubt as to the state of the US medical system, the large white trucks have the words 'Disaster Relief' stencilled on their sides. Hundreds of volunteers unload the trucks and set up a field hospital that will operate for less than 48 hours and vanish as quickly as it appeared.
Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps (RAM) was established in 1985 to bring emergency aid to remote populations in Guyana and the Amazon jungle, but went on to recognise the health problems of marginalised people in the heartland of America - working-class people too poor to purchase private insurance, and not poor enough to qualify for welfare programs such as Medicaid. Founded by a charismatic former television star, Stan Brock, RAM has responded to that need by providing no-questions-asked free services on a first-come, first-served basis. So great is the demand that 60% of RAM's services are now offered within the US.
As the economy lurches deeper into recession, the failings of the world's richest country to care for its own are stark. 47 million Americans have no health insurance, with a further 25 million considered underinsured. As jobs are lost, these numbers will grow.
Over the two days, RAM sees 822 patients, performing 462 dental extractions and filling 319 teeth. They give 236 eye tests, and fit 236 people with glasses. Another 243 get medical consultations.
Brock has been criticised for tackling the medical needs of America's uninsured as if it were a third-world 'Disaster Relief' project, but he is unrepentant:
"Some people call this a Band-Aid to a larger problem, but if you have a mouth full of bad teeth it is a big problem, and our help is important for that person. Dentists can charge $3,000 to fix bad teeth. We do it in a day, for free."
See pictures
pa.photoshelter.com/c/felixfeatures/gallery-show/G0000GidLHRvDeWQ/
WISE, VA - JULY 26: Children collect free meals while their families await medical treatment at the Remote Area Medical (RAM), clinic July 26, 2008 in Wise, Virginia. The free clinic, which lasts 2 1/2 days, is the largest of its kind in the nation, and organizers expected to treat more than 2,500 people over the weekend, mostly providing dental and vision services. Residents of the "coal counties" of Appalachia are some of the most impoverished in the nation, and most are either underinsured or have no health insurance at all. For many, the RAM clinic is the only medical care they may receive each year. Healthcare for the nation's disadvantaged has become one of the main issues in this year's presidential race.
By Jeff Swicord
Knott County, Kentucky
23 December 2008
An organization whose mission is to bring free health care to some of the poorest countries in the world has turned its attention to the U.S. The U.S. Census Bureau reports nearly 46 million Americans have not health insurance. And so several weekends a year, an organization called Remote Area Medical (RAM), flies doctors and equipment to some of poorest areas of the country and treats patients at a cost of under $4 each.
Doors open early
At six a.m., in the hills of Eastern Kentucky, Stan Brock opens the doors to his Remote Area Medical Clinic or RAM.
Normally, there would be 1,000 people in line waiting for free medical care. Below freezing temperatures have brought out a smaller crowd. Stan Brock founded Remote Area Medical 23 years ago to bring care to developing countries. Soon after, he went to a rural county in the U.S. And we were asked if we could go up there with a few dentists, because they had a lot of dental problems in the area," Brock recalled. "And we did, and were surprised by the turnout. And from there it just grew."
RAM clinic operations depend on a volunteer medical staff
Several times a year, RAM sets up its remote clinic in places like Knott County, Kentucky for a weekend. Known for its rolling hills, this is coal mining country. Many residents work low wage jobs and cannot afford to see a doctor.
RAM depends entirely on volunteers. On this weekend, six eye specialists, 24 dentists and an assortment of other physicians and volunteers will treat almost 1,000 patients.
At 4 a.m. Saturday, the parking lot was already bustling with activity. Danny Sloan and his family had been waiting all night. "I am looking for eye glasses and a cancer screen," Sloan explained.
RAM serve Americans in rural communities
In the U.S., government provided health care is more easily available to children, than adults. Most of the people here have jobs, but still can not afford health care.
James Francis, is unemployed. RAM is his only chance to see a doctor. "I was telling my girlfriend, I said, I need to get up about four o'clock and get up there," Francis said. "And then when I got here at five, I was already number 82. So that shows how important this was."
Nearly 46 million people are uninsured in the U.S. but Brock says he sees many who have insurance. Their most common need is for dental and eye care. "They have insurance and it either has a very high copay, and so they can't afford the copay, or it doesn't cover those two essential services," Brock stated.
Later in the evening, Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Daniel Mongiardo, a physician, stopped by to talk with some of the volunteers. The topic quickly turned to why so many people in the U.S. have no access to health care. "The health care system is broken," Mongiardo explained. "It doesn't matter who pays for this inefficient very expensive system. The problem is the system cost too much for anybody to afford."
After hours of standing in line, after all the poking and prodding, Patients like Sandy Ekridge leave with more than just fixed teeth. "Teeth and glasses," she said.
Remote Area Medical plans more expeditions in the U.S. as well as to Africa and South America.
--------------------------------------------------
In the Appalachian mountains of eastern Kentucky, the sick and uninsured have learnt to wait.
If there is any doubt as to the state of the US medical system, the large white trucks have the words 'Disaster Relief' stencilled on their sides. Hundreds of volunteers unload the trucks and set up a field hospital that will operate for less than 48 hours and vanish as quickly as it appeared.
Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps (RAM) was established in 1985 to bring emergency aid to remote populations in Guyana and the Amazon jungle, but went on to recognise the health problems of marginalised people in the heartland of America - working-class people too poor to purchase private insurance, and not poor enough to qualify for welfare programs such as Medicaid. Founded by a charismatic former television star, Stan Brock, RAM has responded to that need by providing no-questions-asked free services on a first-come, first-served basis. So great is the demand that 60% of RAM's services are now offered within the US.
As the economy lurches deeper into recession, the failings of the world's richest country to care for its own are stark. 47 million Americans have no health insurance, with a further 25 million considered underinsured. As jobs are lost, these numbers will grow.
Over the two days, RAM sees 822 patients, performing 462 dental extractions and filling 319 teeth. They give 236 eye tests, and fit 236 people with glasses. Another 243 get medical consultations.
Brock has been criticised for tackling the medical needs of America's uninsured as if it were a third-world 'Disaster Relief' project, but he is unrepentant:
"Some people call this a Band-Aid to a larger problem, but if you have a mouth full of bad teeth it is a big problem, and our help is important for that person. Dentists can charge $3,000 to fix bad teeth. We do it in a day, for free."
See pictures
pa.photoshelter.com/c/felixfeatures/gallery-show/G0000GidLHRvDeWQ/
WISE, VA - JULY 26: Children collect free meals while their families await medical treatment at the Remote Area Medical (RAM), clinic July 26, 2008 in Wise, Virginia. The free clinic, which lasts 2 1/2 days, is the largest of its kind in the nation, and organizers expected to treat more than 2,500 people over the weekend, mostly providing dental and vision services. Residents of the "coal counties" of Appalachia are some of the most impoverished in the nation, and most are either underinsured or have no health insurance at all. For many, the RAM clinic is the only medical care they may receive each year. Healthcare for the nation's disadvantaged has become one of the main issues in this year's presidential race.
