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Medical Leader News - Area gears up for RAM: Brock expects more than 1,000 for expeditionArea gears up for RAM: Brock expects more than 1,000 for expedition
BUCKLEYS CREEK — Remote Area Medical (RAM) founder Stan Brock said the need for healthcare in rural areas of the country, including eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia, is critical.
Brock arrived Wednesday morning at Pike County Central High School to tour the site of next weekend’s RAM expedition, which is set for June 28-29.
“This will be our 544th clinic since our beginning,” said Brock, who spent 15 years of his life with the Wapishana Indians in the Amazon forest.
While living with the tribe, Bock developed a better understanding for the plight of people — especially those underinsured or not insured — living in rural areas and their accessibility to heath care, vision care and dental care.
“There are just so many people, including those here in Kentucky, who can’t afford health care for one reason or another,” Brock said. “We expect to see over 1,000 adults and children.” Brock said it had been a long time since his group had been in Kentucky.
“The need is here… It always has been,,” he said. “We would like to see that 600 each day get the needed dental, vision and medical attention they need.”
RAM was organized in 1985, and years of research and planning yielded a vast, carefully developed network of men and women who have come together to make it a highly mobile, remarkably efficient relief force.
“It takes the work of a number of people to get something like this off the ground,” he said. “The county government here stepped up and wanted to be a part of this much-needed clinic.”
Carol Napier, commissioner of social services for the Pike County Fiscal Court, said volunteers for next weekend’s event are made up of doctors, nurses, technicians and others in the field of medicine.
“It’s my understanding that we are the first county government to get involved with coordinating a RAM event,” she said. “The judge (Wayne T. Rutherford) and the court are thrilled to be a part of this health activity.” Napier said a total of 530 volunteers, including 125 in the dental field, will be on hand.
“Free services will be provided on a first come, first serve basis,” she said. “These services are being provided for those uninsured, underinsured, unemployed and those who simply cannot afford such services.”
She said volunteers from Pike, Martin and Letcher counties, along with students from the University of Louisville, will make up the majority of those offering services.
“Registration will begin at 6 a.m. daily,” she said.
Brock added that the hardships in rural areas, and the high cost of living have forced many people to make choices when it comes to health care.
“You have those who must decide whether or not they are going to the doctor or the grocery store,” he said. “The aches and pains are something many are dealing with rather than being treated for.”
Parking will be available for those attending the clinic. Vehicles will be directed to the adjacent lot, site of the new Mullins School, and shuttled back off the hill to PCCHS.
“There will be signs directing you to the parking area,” Napier added.
For more details on the upcoming RAM clinic, please call the Pike County Social Services Department at (606) 432-6246.
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