A volunteer team of 30 doctors, nurses, social workers and pharmacists from the University of Virginia Health System will be providing medical care at the October 4-5 Remote Area Medical Clinic in Grundy, Virginia. The two-day event offers no fee dental, vision and medical care to people who are uninsured, underinsured, unemployed or cannot afford to pay.
Open to the public on a first-come-first-served basis, the clinic will operate from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and from 7 a.m. to noon on Sunday at Riverview Elementary School on Route 450 West.
“Our team cared for 132 patients last year, and we expect numbers to be the same this year,” says Dr. Scott Syverud, an emergency department physician who serves as UVA’s medical director for the annual RAM clinics in Grundy and nearby Wise, Va. In addition to general medical care, UVA will provide endocrine and pharmacy services, EKGs, Peripheral Artery Disease screenings and diabetes education.
The Grundy clinic is one of dozens of on-going outreach activities through which UVA augments the primary healthcare services available in far Southwest Virginia. Specialty teams in neurology, pulmonology, neuro-development, orthopedics, endocrinology, cardiology and genetics regularly travel to the region to conduct clinics for adults and children. Each July, hundreds of medical professionals from UVA volunteer at the RAM Clinic in Wise. In addition to on-site care, a wide array of UVA specialists offer telemedicine consultations at hospitals, health departments, correctional facilities and community health centers in the region. In all, UVA provides more than 6,500 patient encounters annually to residents of far Southwest Virginia.
“UVA has a huge commitment to providing critically needed healthcare services to people in the Coalfield counties,” notes Dr. Karen Rheuban a pediatric cardiologist who conducts clinics in the region and who also serves as Medical Director of UVA’s Office of Telemedicine. “We’re working closely and collaboratively with local government agencies, community organizations and nonprofits to deliver specialty healthcare services in a way that is flexible, resilient and sustainable.”
Related link:
Specifics of the RAM Grundy Expedition http://www.ramusa.org/expeditions/2008/expeditiongrundyco2008.htm
