The little girl got excited when they gave her new glasses. She started looking around the gym and smiling. “I can see!” she said. “Well, I mean I could before, but not like this!” 

If you walked through the Remote Area Medical (RAM) Clinic Saturday, sights like this were not uncommon. There were multiple residents smiling and talking about how much better they could see or how other long-time issues got addressed for the first time. An older woman cried and hugged the dentist who had just fixed one of her teeth. As happy as they were to get treatment, nobody wanted, or in some cases parents didn’t want, to give names or do interviews on the record. Some were embarrassed about having to go to a clinic like this, while others didn’t want their medical situations known. All were thankful for the opportunity. 

Held at Cumberland High School, the clinic was free to anyone and everyone who showed up. No ID needed, no insurance. People just came in, joined a line and then told the doctor, dentist or eye care professional what they needed. Even before the doors opened at 6 a.m. Saturday, people were lined up, ready to be seen. All total throughout the weekend, RAM officials said they helped nearly 300 people. 

“Cumberland, Virginia was a great first-time clinic in the area,” said Audra Fitzgerald. She serves as RAM’s Senior Clinic Coordinator. “We saw over 283 patients, so we count that as a very good success.”

Those treatments included things like free dental cleanings, dental fillings, dental extractions, dental X-rays, eye exams, eye health exams, eyeglass prescriptions, eyeglasses made on-site, like those given to the little girl mentioned above, women’s health exams, and general medical exams. 

For those who weren’t able to make it to get treatment and don’t mind driving a bit, there will be another free RAM Clinic June 21-22 in Emporia. 

Rotary, Lions help out 

A number of different organizations helped put this together. On Saturday, you could see Rotary Club of Farmville members working with the Prince Edward High Interact Club to serve meals. The Farmville Lions Club, Longwood University, Centra Health and Piedmont Senior Resources also helped sponsor the operation, along with Prince Edward, Cumberland, Buckingham, Charlotte and Nottoway counties. There were also nursing students on hand from the Southside Virginia Community College School of Nursing. It was in many ways a community effort. 

“Members of the Rotary Club of Farmville were there to give support to the medical teams rendering services,” said Doug Stanley. He serves as current President of the Rotary Club of Farmville and as Prince Edward County Administrator. “As a Club, we are blessed with the opportunity to sponsor the event and help the citizens of the region have access to medical care that they would otherwise go without.” 

What is a RAM Clinic? 

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.