Medical personnel conduct a dental examination on a child during a previous clinic organized by Remote Area Medical, a nonprofit that offers free medical, dental and vision care in pop-up clinics. The group will be setting up a clinic in Nashville on June 3 and 4.
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They come from all over the area, seeking services that they otherwise could not afford.
Every community Remote Area Medical sets up in has a need for their services. Working with volunteer medical providers, they are able to get people health care for free.
Clients can sign up for eye checkups, get fillings if they have cavities or schedule women’s health exams.
“We’re here to alleviate that tooth pain someone’s been walking around with for a few years, but they might not have the funds to go and get it taken care of, or had the access,” said Brad Sands, clinic coordinator for the Nashville clinic for Remote Area Medical. “In one day, you’re taking away pain people have had for years.”
Over the course of two days in June, Remote Area Medical has planned a pop-up clinic in Nashville. People from all over the region, including Johnson County, can come and sign up for an array of services, from vision to dental to medical care.
All of it comes without a cost to the client.
Remote Area Medical offers its services because people desperately need it, Sands said. But it couldn’t do the work it does without help from local communities. Organizers are asking for volunteer help, from both medical personnel and people without a healthcare background, to make the clinic on June 3 and 4 a reality.
“Without our volunteers, there is no clinic,” Sands said. “They are the heart of our operation. They give their time and their expertise to make the clinic happen.”
Remote Area Medical was founded in 1985 with the mission to prevent pain and alleviate suffering by providing free, quality healthcare to those in need. The nonprofit organization operates pop-up clinics across the country, and often around the world, delivering free, quality dental, vision and medical services to underserved, uninsured and underinsured individuals who do not have access to, or cannot afford, a doctor.
Since 1985, nearly 200,000 Remote Area Medical volunteers have treated more than 910,500 individuals, delivering more than $189.5 million worth of free healthcare services. The organization provided almost 22,000 people with care in 2022.
“I’ve been in medicine since 2007, and worked in a lot of different capacities. I’ve worked all over the place, and of all the places I’ve worked, this is the absolute most rewarding — to come out and see how people’s lives are changes,” Sands said.
All services are free, and no ID is required. All services will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis; all that is required is people show up, Sands said.
Services available at the free clinic include dental cleanings, dental fillings, dental extractions, dental X-rays, eye exams, eye health screenings, eyeglass prescriptions, eyeglasses made on-site, women’s health exams and general medical exams.
“There are a lot of gaps unfortunately in insurance and coverage,” Sands said. We’re here to fill that gap for people who don’t have that access or have the ability to spend the money on the access they do have.”
To bring a clinic to Nashville, Hoosier Health Advocates, a student group at Indiana University, reached out to Remote Area Medical and started the planning process. Local organizers demonstrated the need for medical services, and they worked to determine an ideal location to accommodate — Brown County Middle School.
With the logistics of the pop-up clinic solidified, the main concern for organizers is now recruiting volunteers to ensure it is a success. Efforts have started looking for medical, dental and vision professionals to offer their time to work the clinic.
But even without medical training or backgrounds, people are needed for jobs throughout the clinic, Sands said. General support volunteers help set up and take down the clinic. Parking staff are imperative to greet patients, while interpreters help guide patients through the process, either when they arrive or as they move through the clinic.
“We need general support on everything, all the way down to guiding people to the right service area and translating for people to checking people in,” Sands said. “You don’t need medical experience for those, but we need people in those positions.”
To volunteer for the June 3 and 4 clinic in Nashville, Sands recommends people go to the Remote Area Medical website. A tab is available for both medical personnel and general support volunteers to sign up and be vetted by organizers.
