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If you need medical treatment but don’t have the insurance or money to afford it, help is on the way. Cumberland County will host a two-day pop-up clinic by Remote Area Medical (RAM) and it is free for all those who come. This will be held at Cumberland High School, located at 15 School Road in Cumberland. 

“All services are free,” said Allison McCauley-Cook. She works as media relations coordinator for RAM, a multi-state project. “No ID (is) required and (patients will be seen) on a first-come, first-served basis.” 

McCauley-Cook said the two-day 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.

Now as for details, the parking lot will open no later than 11:59 p.m. on Friday night, March 28 and remain open until the clinic closes on Sunday. Again, patients will be seen on a first come, first serve basis, so arriving early will be important. Once you’re in the parking lot, patients will get additional information about clinic processes and next steps. Clinic doors will open at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning and the clinic will stay open Saturday until 6 p.m. 

On Sunday, the timeframe will be much shorter, with the clinic opening at 6 a.m. but closing at 1 p.m. Because of the shortened timeframe Sunday, patients are asked to come in as early as possible. McCauley-Cook also said that due to time constraints, patients should be prepared to choose between dental and vision services. All patients will be able to get general medical care.

This project is being organized with help from a number of sponsors. Centra is one, along with Piedmont Senior Resources. The counties in the region have also contributed, including Prince Edward, Cumberland, Buckingham, Charlotte and Nottoway. Longwood University is also helping with the project, along with the Farmville Rotary Club, the Lions Club Farmville and Southside Virginia Community College School of Nursing. 

More about the RAM Clinic and organization

RAM has been around for a while. Founded in 1985 by Stan Brock, the group is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “prevent pain and alleviate suffering by providing free, quality healthcare to those in need,” according to the mission statement on their website. To accomplish this, RAM operates pop-up clinics across the country, 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.

RAM was initially founded to serve as a provider of free medical care in remote areas of developing countries, such as Guyana, Mexico and Haiti. Almost immediately after beginning operations, RAM began receiving requests to operate clinics in the United States. This ultimately led to the operation of the first American RAM clinic on May 9, 1992 in Sneedville, Tennessee. Today, all RAM operations are here in the United States. 

Since 1985, the nonprofit says that more than 212,000 RAM volunteers have treated more than 950,000 individuals, delivering more than $200 million worth of free healthcare services.