RAM free clinic brings people in Page County free health care services

LURAY, Va. (WHSV) - The halls of Luray High School were lined with healthcare providers and people waiting for healthcare screenings. It was all part of the Remote Area Medical Free Clinic (RAM).

RAM is a major non-profit provider of pop-up clinics which brings free, quality healthcare to underserved populations.

“It doesn’t just lift up those who don’t have insurance, but it lifts up folks who are just making it by every month, especially those that are seniors or people with disability,” Laura Trull, an organizer of Luray’s RAM clinic said.

The services RAM clinics provide include dental care, basic medical care, eye care including on-the-spot prescription eyeglasses which have helped have made a difference in the quality of life of many who came.

“The ability to see so that they can work or drive their car or just read a book or just see the face of their grandchildren,” said Mary Brown, volunteer manager for Remote Area Medical, about how some elderly attendees benefited from the eye care services. “They gain freedom from pain. Part of our mission is to prevent pain and alleviate suffering by providing free quality healthcare.”

RAM clinics are hosted across the country. Community organizers reach out when they see the need and work with remote area medical to bring the clinic to their community.

“We saw the great need for specialty care like vision, the great need for dental care and it was beyond the scope of what we could offer in the four walls of the free clinic so we wanted to do a little bit bigger to serve a bigger population,” Ben Dolewski, executive director of Page Free Clinic said.

Since RAM is a non-profit organization, it’s able to operate through donations and volunteers.

“It has taken so many people, so many organizations, so much commitment, and that really has been such a shining star here in Luray,” Trull said. “We’re so proud of how this community has come together and has really made it a wonderful place to host this clinic.”

Organizers already has plans to bring the RAM clinic back to Page County in the coming years.

“We’ve partnered with Page Memorial Hospital and Valley Health which is the large healthcare organization here in town and through working with them and also our free clinic and others, we were actually awarded a grant through the USDA and part of that grant is going to allocate funds to keep the RAM clinic going in this community,” Dolewski said.

The next local RAM free clinic will be held in Fishersville at the Augusta Expo Center on November 19-20.

For more information on Remote Area Medical clinics, visit their website.

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