Latest news with #RemoteAreaMedical
CBS News
2 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
A free pop-up health clinic is coming to the School of the Future in Philadelphia this weekend
A free medical, dental, and vision pop-up health clinic is coming to Philadelphia this weekend. No insurance? No problem. You don't even need to have an ID. Anyone with a medical concern or need is welcome. People will be able to get their teeth cleaned, eyes checked or a pap smear. The School of the Future at 4021 Parkside Avenue in West Philadelphia will be the location for the free pop-up medical clinic on Saturday and Sunday. "We're going to be bringing dental, vision and medical care all completely free, no insurance, no ID required," said Brad Sands, clinic coordinator of Remote Area Medical. Remote Area Medical is a nonprofit that provides health care for people who don't have insurance or are underinsured. "You tell me your name's Mickey Mouse, and I'm gonna bring you in and give you quality health care," Sands said. About 8% of the country doesn't have health insurance. Experts said even for those who do, copays are high, and some services like dental and vision aren't covered. "You never know the need in the community," Sands said. At the pop-up clinic, the basic medical care will also include gynecological services. Dental will include fillings, extractions, cleanings and X-rays. For vision care, there will be eye exams and the ability to make glasses on-site or provide prescriptions. "We're going to have the local community coming out, local dentist, local vision providers, local nurses," Sands said. Remote Medical's free pop-up clinics travel around the country and have become very popular, with people often lining up overnight. "Our parking lot will open no later than midnight the day before. Our doors open at 6 a.m. We are first-come, first-served and we have a limited amount of spots," Sands said. People are encouraged to show up early and be prepared to wait, so bring your own food and water. Nearly 400 people were served in 2024, and this year could be even bigger.
Forbes
22-07-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Closing The Distance: Fixing Access To Care In Rural America
Part 2 of the Rural Health Resilience Series GRUNDY, VIRGINIA - Optometry students administer vision tests to patients for a free pair of ... More eyeglasses at a Remote Area Medical (RAM) mobile dental and medical clinic on October 7, 2023 in Grundy, Virginia. More than a thousand people were expected to seek free dental, medical and vision care at the two-day event in western Virginia's rural and financially struggling area. RAM provides free medical care through mobile clinics in underserved, isolated, or impoverished communities around the country and world. (Photo by) Bridging the Gaps That Separate Care from Communities In the first essay of this series, I described the rural health crisis: how it affects nearly 60 million Americans and why its resolution should be a national priority. But if we want to fix it, we must first understand what 'access' really means in rural America. It's not simply a matter of miles. It's a complex web of economic, structural, cultural, and technological gaps that separate people from the care they deserve. As a physician, I've cared for transplant patients who came to me in Nashville from coal towns in Appalachia, from the Mississippi Delta, from isolated ranchlands in the West. I've treated veterans at VA hospitals and seniors from small towns served by Medicare. I've helped build companies like Aspire Health, Monogram Health, and Main Street Health that now deliver care to patients in their homes across rural America. And for years I had a front row seat on the explosion of telemedicine as a board member of Teladoc, which has served millions of rural residents. What I've seen, again and again, is this: geography is only the first barrier. The deeper challenge is designing care that rural Americans can reach, afford, and especially trust. Care that understands them. The Many Faces of 'Access' At its simplest, access to care means being able to engage a health provider when you need it. But in rural America, this ideal runs into five major roadblocks: According to national polling by KFF, 58% of Americans believe rural residents have a harder time accessing care than urban ones. And rural adults themselves overwhelmingly agree that their communities lack primary care, mental health providers, and specialists. This is not a perception problem; it's a systems problem. And this needs to be addressed as such. When the Nearest Hospital Is Hours Away Since 2010, over 130 rural hospitals have closed. In my own state of Tennessee, over this period 15 rural hospitals have either fully closed or ceased inpatient care, the second most of any state and the highest in the nation on a per capita basis. In many areas, emergency rooms, surgical units, and maternity wards have been eliminated, with nothing to replace them. Remaining facilities increasingly operate under severe financial strain. As Dr. Keith Mueller of the University of Iowa notes: 'In rural America, we haven't just lost hospitals. We've lost healthcare ecosystems.'¹ Doctors and nurses move away. Supporting clinics close. Pharmacies disappear. The closures don't just threaten lives. They impact the economy, jobs, and social cohesion. The loss of a hospital often signals the slow unraveling of the community around it. One analysis found that for every 100 rural hospital jobs lost, another 35 jobs disappear due to declining local spending. This is not an argument that all rural hospitals should necessarily stay open, because they may be too inefficient and may not be the best way to deliver care when resources are limited. But it is a call to explore newer models of care delivery to fill the gaps caused by the failure of traditional, legacy-type delivery of inpatient care. It is a call to explore more creative, rural-focused payment mechanisms that adequately support modern value-driven care. A Workforce Crisis—and an Opportunity More than 60% of federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas are rural. Nearly 80% of rural counties lack a psychiatrist. Many have no dentist or OB-GYN. Some have no practicing physician at all. These are the hard facts we must work around. We know that the best predictor of whether someone will practice in a rural area is whether they grew up in one. This truth means we should more actively invest in rural high school health career programs, community college training, and rural-focused medical education. In Nashville, we're working to open a Nurses Middle College, a public charter high school where students receive a rigorous college-prep education infused with nursing content, including nurse mentorships and firsthand experiences in medical workplaces. Introducing medical career paths early in students' education, particularly in rural regions, is key to growing the workforce. A proven rural physician training model is East Tennessee State University's Quillen College of Medicine in Johnson City. With the clearly stated mission to prepare physicians for underserved and rural communities, Quillen consistently ranks #2 nationally for graduates practicing in underserved areas. Through programs like its Rural Primary Care Track, Quillen provides early and sustained clinical exposure in community settings. The results are compelling: over 63% of its graduates practice in medically underserved areas, and more than half enter primary care, many returning to serve in their home regions.⁵ Another example of a training institution addressing this challenge head-on is Meharry Medical College in my hometown Nashville. A historically Black medical school with a long-standing mission to serve the underserved and in particular rural areas, Meharry has produced generations of physicians who return to practice in rural and economically marginalized communities. Through rural-focused pipeline programs and partnerships designed specifically for rural health like its accelerated training track with Middle Tennessee State University for rural primary care, Meharry is helping build a future workforce rooted in the very communities most often left behind. In recent Senate testimony, Dr. James Hildreth, Meharry's President and CEO, stated: 'We have been training health care professionals who are really competent and skilled—connected to their communities—for decades.' He added, however, that 'our challenge is the infrastructure we have to do that.' Equally important is expanding the role of non-physician providers. Nurse practitioners, pharmacists, EMTs, and community health workers are the care infrastructure in many places. States should continue to examine how to best allow health personnel to practice 'at the top of their license' to maximize workforce reach. And the shortages are not just traditional health providers. In many rural areas, broadband technicians and community health workers are as critical to healthcare access as doctors and nurses. Telehealth: Promise and Pitfalls Telehealth surged during the pandemic and demonstrated real promise for rural care. Behavioral health visits, routine check-ins, and consults have all benefited. We've likely just touched the surface of its potential; to be fully realized will take newer alliances among providers and more modern flows of payment to reimburse where value is added. Farmer uses telemedicine to access remote care. Teladoc Health, on whose board I served for eight years, provides a good example. During the COVID pandemic, Teladoc Health emerged as a vital lifeline for rural Americans, illuminating how virtual care can break through geographic barriers. In early 2020, total visits soared. Teladoc nearly tripled its capacity, rising from handling around 100,000 virtual visits per week to nearly 2.8 million visits per month at mid‑year. While telehealth growth was nationwide, Teladoc's platforms proved especially valuable in rural, underserved regions with few nearby providers or limited public transportation options. As a board member, I saw firsthand how Teladoc's operations not only expanded reach into medically underserved counties but also reduced travel time, alleviated strain on fragile local health systems, and provided critical continuity of care where in-person follow-up was unfeasible. Telehealth has proved especially beneficial for mental health treatment, with some patients actually preferring a virtual visit due to persisting stigma around mental healthcare. And its value goes beyond connecting a rural patient to a provider in another zip code. It can be a lifeline for isolated rural providers who want to connect with specialists on cases and procedures they are less familiar with – becoming a medical force multiplier. But telemedicine engagement generally requires broadband, and millions of rural Americans don't have it. The FCC estimates at least 19 million Americans lack high-speed internet, the majority in rural areas. Even where broadband exists, it may be unaffordable or unreliable. Inconsistent access means rural residents are being left behind in a system increasingly reliant on digital care. Without broadband, rural communities can't participate in modern healthcare. Behavioral Health: The Sharpest Edge Behavioral health care is arguably where the rural access gap is most dangerous. Many counties have no licensed mental health provider at all. And yet, as pointed out in our first essay, rural communities face some of the nation's highest rates of suicide, overdose, and depression. States are in the best position to facilitate local solutions. In neighboring Kentucky, peer counselors, primary care teams, and churches have come together to form informal behavioral health safety nets, especially in rural areas where clinicians are scarce. One powerful initiative is Recovery Kentucky, which operates eight rural residential recovery homes offering peer-led support, life skills training, and transitional housing. An independent evaluation found it serves up to 2,200 people annually with measurable improvements in substance use, housing stability, employment, and health outcomes.⁵ Another innovation, the state's Crisis Co-Response Model, pairs trained mental health professionals with law enforcement in rural communities to provide in-the-moment intervention and post-crisis follow-up, bridging gaps where conventional crisis services are hours away. These grassroots models reflect the power of trust-driven, community-rooted care that meets people where they are, both geographically and socially. In rural America, the most effective health infrastructure is sometimes the church basement, the school gym, or the farm supply store bulletin board. Something common to all of these rural models: they are built on trust, often from the community level up and not from bureaucracy, top down. WISE, VA - Early-morning screening takes place in a barn during the Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinic ... More at the Wise County Fairground in Wise, Virginia. Rural families, most with little or no insurance, lined up for hours to receive free health care from hundreds of professional doctors, nurses, dentists, and other health workers. (Photo by, 2007) Culture, Trust, and Local Voice Many rural residents hold deep skepticism toward government-led systems, ironically even when they benefit from them. According to KFF polling, many residents on Medicaid or Medicare say they 'don't rely on the federal government' for health support.⁴ That belief is not hypocrisy; it's identity. Self-reliance, pride, and cultural values shape how rural residents interact with healthcare. For many rural Americans, healthcare is much more than a service; it's a cultural encounter. It intersects with deeply held values of personal independence, skepticism of bureaucracy, and strong community ties. Health programs that emphasize entitlements or top-down aid can clash with this ethos. But solutions that build trust, use local messengers, and frame care as earned or community-rooted are far more effective. That's why programs like culturally aware Main Street Health and peer-led behavioral health models work: they feel local, personal, and dignified. As one rural stakeholder said, 'What matters is whether this person knows us, not what their credentials say.' Reaching rural America means respecting not just the need, but the values that shape how care is received. Effective models don't dismiss that; they honor it. They empower trusted messengers. Main Street Health: A Working Solution At Main Street Health, a company on whose board I serve that delivers value-based care exclusively to rural populations, we're seeing what's possible. The company has placed 'health navigators,' trusted individuals drawn locally from their own communities, into hundreds of rural clinics across the country. These navigators, who are personally known locally, help seniors manage chronic conditions, access care, coordinate medications, and navigate the healthcare system. The program now operates in more than a thousand clinics across the country. Its rapid growth is not because of marketing. It's because it is built on community-centered relationships and trust, and it works. Access isn't a fixed obstacle. It's a challenge of systems design and one we are capable of solving. What's Next In the next essay, we will explore how technology can be a transformative vehicle for health in rural America, and why we need to make these investments now to bring aging systems into the 21st century to help eliminate the 'rural health penalty.' It just may be a model for the rest of America. Footnotes
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Free healthcare clinic coming to Paris
PARIS — In many parts of the United States, for millions of Americans, access to basic healthcare is a challenge at best and an impossibility at worst. Due to geographic, economic, or cultural barriers, much of the U.S. population is uninsured or underinsured. Remote Area Medical (RAM) is stepping in to address this issue by offering a free, comprehensive healthcare clinic at Paris High School located at 14040 East 1200th Road, Paris, on June 28-29. This clinic will provide dental, vision, and medical care to those who might otherwise go without these essential services. The clinic is in collaboration with Longview Capital Corporation and the Longview Foundation. RAM Clinics are a lifeline for underserved communities, offering free healthcare services that include general medical exams, dental cleanings, extractions, eye exams, and prescription glasses made on-site. By bringing healthcare directly to those in need, RAM removes the barriers of cost and distance that often prevent people from seeking care. The upcoming clinic in Paris is open to anyone in need, with no insurance and no ID required. RAM encourages anyone who could benefit from these services to attend and receive the care they deserve. The parking lot will open no later than 11:59 p.m. (Midnight) Friday night, June 27. and remain open for the duration of the clinic. Once in the parking lot, additional information regarding clinic-opening processes and next steps will be provided. Clinic doors open at 6 a.m., services are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Saturday's clinic operations will be an abbreviated day, patients are advised to arrive as early as possible. Due to time constraints, patients should be prepared to choose between dental and vision services. In some situations outside of RAM's control, such as inclement weather, volunteer cancellations or other circumstances, the parking lot may open earlier or a smaller number of patients may be served. RAM encourages everyone who would like services, especially dental services, to arrive as early as possible. Clinic closing time may vary based on each service area's daily capacity. For more information on the upcoming RAM Clinic, including how to volunteer or donate, visit or call 865-579-1530.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'Largest medical event in Anderson County's history' coming to Oak Ridge this weekend
Remote Area Medical (RAM) and Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge are partnering again to bring a free medical, vision and dental clinic to the Oak Ridge Recreation Center, 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike. People who need the free services will begin arriving in the parking lots before 11:59 p.m. Friday or earlier to be among the first in line for the free services. Billy Edmonds, Free Medical Clinic executive director, has said it'll be the "largest medical event in Anderson County's history." It is expected to surpass free RAM clinics held in past years at First Baptist Church in Clinton and the one held in Oak Ridge on Feb. 18-19, 2023. The clinic will offer medical, dental and vision services, a way to get same-day eyeglasses, and an on-site pharmacy, Edmonds said in talking about this weekend's clinic in a previous news story. He urged people to take their children and get their vaccines, as well as their sports physicals, which he said can be expensive. All RAM services are free to anyone and and no ID is required. The parking lot will open no later than 11:59 p.m. Friday and remain open for the duration of the clinic. Once in the parking lot, patients will receive additional information regarding clinic processes and next steps, according to RAM information. Clinic doors open at 6 a.m., and services are offered on a first-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached. Sunday's clinic will be open a shorter day - perhaps closing by 2 p.m. or earlier, according to a news release from the city of Oak Ridge - so patients are advised to arrive as early as possible. Due to time constraints, patients should be prepared to choose between dental and vision services, but all patients will be offered general medical care. The RAM clinic will offer free dental cleanings, dental fillings, dental extractions, dental X-Rays, eye exams, eye health exams, eyeglass prescriptions, eyeglasses made on-site, women's health exams and general medical exams, according to a news release from the organization formed by the late Stan Brock, who was known by baby boomers for his appearances on Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom" television show. As Remote Area Medical explains in its information, basic healthcare is a challenge - or an impossibility - for millions of Americans. Why? "Due to geographic, economic, or cultural barriers, much of the U.S. population is uninsured or underinsured," the RAM information stated. RAM is seeking volunteer medical, dental and vision professionals and general support staff for the clinic. General support volunteers are also needed on May 2 to help the clinic set up and on May 4 to take it down. Overnight parking volunteers to greet patients are 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, the release stated. Those who would like to volunteer can email volunteers@ and mention you'd like to volunteer in Oak Ridge this weekend. Remote Area Medical (RAM) is a leading nonprofit organizationdedicated to providing free, high-quality healthcare services to those who face barriers to its pop-up clinics, RAM delivers essential medical, dental, and vision care to underserved anduninsured communities across the country. Since its inception in 1985, RAM has been committed toreducing pain and suffering by offering compassionate, no-cost care to those in need. Over the years,RAM has served more than 940,000 individuals through over 1,400 clinics, making a significant impacton public health and community well-being. The Oak Ridger's News Editor Donna Smith covers Oak Ridge area news. Email her at dsmith@ and follow her on Twitter@ridgernewsed. Support The Oak Ridger by subscribing. Offers available at This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Get free medical, dental, vision care in Oak Ridge this weekend
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The most likely Medicaid cuts would hit rural areas the hardest
Patients have their blood pressure checked and other vitals taken at an intake triage at a Remote Area Medical (RAM) mobile dental and medical clinic in Grundy, Va. Potential cuts to Medicaid would hit working-age adults who live in small towns and rural areas especially hard. () Working-age adults who live in small towns and rural areas are more likely to be covered by Medicaid than their counterparts in cities, creating a dilemma for Republicans looking to make deep cuts to the health care program. About 72 million people — nearly 1 in 5 people in the United States — are enrolled in Medicaid, which provides health care coverage to low-income and disabled people and is jointly funded by the federal government and the states. Black, Hispanic and Native people are disproportionately represented on the rolls, and more than half of Medicaid recipients are people of color. Nationwide, 18.3% of adults who are between the ages of 19 and 64 and live in small towns and rural areas are enrolled, compared with 16.3% in metro areas, according to a recent analysis by the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University. In 15 states, at least a fifth of working-age adults in small towns and rural areas are covered by Medicaid, and in two of those states — Arizona and New York — more than a third are. Eight of the 15 states voted for President Donald Trump. Health insurance for millions could vanish as states put Medicaid expansion on chopping block Twenty-six Republicans in the U.S. House represent districts where Medicaid covers more than 30% of the population, according to a recent analysis by The New York Times. Many of those districts have significant rural populations, including House Speaker Mike Johnson's 4th Congressional District in Louisiana. Republican U.S. Rep. David Valadao of California, whose Central Valley district is more than two-thirds Hispanic and where 68% of the residents are enrolled in Medicaid, has spoken out against potential cuts. 'I've heard from countless constituents who tell me the only way they can afford health care is through programs like Medicaid, and I will not support a final reconciliation bill that risks leaving them behind,' Valadao said to House members in a recent floor speech. U.S. House Republicans are trying to reduce the federal budget by $2 trillion as they seek $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. GOP leaders have directed the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid and Medicare, to find $880 billion in savings. Trump has ruled out cuts to Medicare, which covers older adults. That leaves Medicaid as the only other program big enough to provide the needed savings — and the Medicaid recipients most likely to be in the crosshairs are working-age adults. But targeting that population would have a disproportionate impact on small towns and rural areas, which are reliably Republican. Furthermore, hospitals and other health care providers in rural communities are heavily reliant on Medicaid. Many rural hospitals are struggling, and nearly 200 have closed or significantly scaled back their services in the past two decades. Before the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010, there were far fewer working-age adults on the Medicaid rolls: The program mostly covered children and their caregivers, people with disabilities and pregnant women. But under the ACA, states are allowed to expand Medicaid to cover adults making up to 138% of the federal poverty level — about $21,000 a year for a single person. As an inducement to expand, the federal government covers 90% of the costs — a greater share than what the feds pay for the traditional Medicaid population. States will not be able to cover those shortfalls. – Jennifer Driver, senior director of reproductive rights at the State Innovation Exchange Last year, there were about 21.3 million people who received coverage through Medicaid expansion. One GOP cost-saving idea is to reduce the federal match for that population to what the feds give states for the traditional Medicaid population, which ranges from 50% for the wealthiest states to 77% for the poorest ones. That would reduce federal spending by $626 billion over a 10-year period, according to a recent analysis by KFF, a health research group. Nine states — Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Virginia — have so-called trigger laws that would automatically end Medicaid expansion if the feds reduce their share. Three other states — Idaho, Iowa and New Mexico — would require other cost-saving steps. 'States will not be able to cover those shortfalls,' said Jennifer Driver, senior director of reproductive rights at the State Innovation Exchange, a left-leaning nonprofit that advocates on state legislative issues. 'It's not cutting costs. It is putting people in real danger.' Reducing federal dollars for Medicaid expansion could cut millions from the rolls Studies have shown that Medicaid expansion has improved health care for a range of issues, including family planning, HIV care and prevention, and postpartum health care. Another idea is to require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work. That would affect an average of 15 million enrollees each year, and 1.5 million would lose eligibility for federal funding, resulting in federal savings of about $109 billion over 10 years. In heavily rural North Carolina, which has a trigger law, there are about 3 million people on Medicaid, and 640,000 of them are eligible under the state's expansion program. About 231,000 of the expansion enrollees live in rural counties. Black residents make up about 36% of new enrollees under the state's eligibility expansion, but only about 22% of the state's population. Brandy Harrell, chief of staff at the Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation, an advocacy group based in Cary, North Carolina, that focuses on rural issues, said the proposed Medicaid cuts would 'deepen the existing disparities' between white people and Black people and urban and rural residents. 'It would have a profound effect on working families by reducing access to essential health care, increasing financial strain and jeopardizing children's health,' Harrell said. 'Cuts could lead to more medical debt, and also poorer health outcomes for our state.' Two of the North Carolina lawmakers with about 30% of their constituents on Medicaid, U.S. Reps. Virginia Foxx and Greg Murphy, represent heavily rural districts in western and coastal North Carolina, respectively. For Indian Country, federal cuts decimate core tribal programs Foxx has supported GOP budget priorities in social media posts. Murphy, a physician and co-chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus in the House, has focused his statements on taking care of what he says is abuse and fraud in the Medicaid system. But North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein last week sent a letter to U.S. House and Senate leaders of both parties, saying the state's rural communities disproportionately rely on Medicaid and that cuts would upend an already fragile landscape for rural hospitals in the state. 'The damage to North Carolina's health care system, particularly rural hospitals and providers, would be devastating, not to mention to people who can no longer afford to access health care,' Stein wrote. In Nebraska, 27% of residents live in rural areas, and state lawmakers are already scrambling to make up for reduced federal Medicaid funding. Dr. Alex Dworak, a family medicine physician who works at an Omaha health clinic that serves low-income and uninsured people, said a dearth of health care options in rural Nebraska already hurts residents. He has one patient who drives up to three hours from his rural community to the clinic. 'It wouldn't be just bad for marginalized communities, but it would be worse for marginalized communities — because things were already worse for them,' Dworak said of proposed Medicaid cuts. 'It will be an utter disaster.' Stateline reporter Nada Hassanein and Stateline's Barbara Barrett contributed to this report. Scott S. Greenberger can be reached at sgreenberger@ SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
