University of Virginia Health System

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA MEDICAL STAFF VOLUNTEERING FOR FREE MEDICAL CLINIC IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

As dawn creeps over the mountains and mist rises from the hollows, hundreds of people of humble means will be lining up on the airport tarmac for their turn to see the doctors and dentists who have been bused in for the annual clinic. This isn't a scene from a developing country. Rather, it takes place in Southwest Virginia, where doctors, and the money to pay for them, are scarce.

The event is the Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinic, which was started in 1999 by Sister Bernie Kenny, a Catholic nun and family nurse practitioner who also has served in Ethiopia and Tanzania. This year's clinic will be held on Friday, July 26 through Sunday, July 28 at the Lonesome Pine Airport in Wise County, Va. The hours will be from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday the 26th and Saturday the 27th, and from 6 a.m. to noon on Sunday the 28th.

Medical care ranging from colon cancer and hearing screenings to mammograms and tooth extractions will be provided free of charge under a cluster of donated tents. Last year, the RAM clinic provided free medical and dental screenings and care to more than 2,000 people over a three-day period.

More than 80 doctors, nurses and medical students from the University of Virginia Health System will be traveling six hours from Charlottesville to donate their time and expertise, along - more with dentists from the Virginia Dental Association and representatives from the Lion's Clubs of Virginia. Organizations in Southwest Virginia that will help facilitate the clinic are the National Guard, the Health Department, St. Mary's Health Wagon and local churches.

This is a huge effort the doctors and nurses are putting forth, said Dr. Claudette Dalton, assistant dean of medical education at U.Va. and coordinator of the University's volunteers. The staff is basically designing this and brainstorming on how to handle the logistics. Each group has done an enormous amount of planning to get the right kind of equipment and supplies down there. There is quite a need for this kind of service in that part of the state.

Medical equipment, supplies and services will be donated by U.Va., as well as housing and transportation for the volunteers from the University.

For more information about the clinic, please call Dr. Claudette Dalton at 434-924-2629 or Sister Bernie Kenny at 276-835-1300.

July, 18, 2002