People in Erie will have the opportunity to receive free medical, dental, and vision care this weekend.
Volunteers and staff are preparing to provide free medical, vision and dental services through the Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinic at Erie Center for Arts and Technology (ECAT).
The two-day clinic will take place Saturday and Sunday at the Erie Center for Arts and Technology, located at 650 East Avenue.
Organizers said numerous surveys have highlighted the need for more accessible health care in the area. This is the third year for the free clinic, and organizers said interest and participation have continued to grow each year.
“We know that there is need, there is unmet need and we want to make sure we are offering that to everybody,” said Sarah Prylinski, clinical program manager with UPMC Hamot Health Foundation.
Services will include dental cleanings and fillings, eye exams and glasses, as well as basic health screenings. No insurance is required, and all services are provided at no cost.
“There’s a need. There’s a tremendous need. Being able to have one weekend every single year where we can meet as many of those people as possible and address their needs and help them with teeth pulling or physical issues that they want to have seen by a medical professional,” Shawn Bednard, the Development Director with the Hamot Health Foundation said. “Being able to meet people where they are is critical. Being able for people to have that expert medical care in their neighborhood, in their backyard is critical.”
Physicians from Erie and across the region are volunteering their time to make sure as many people as possible receive care.
“They are coming from all across the state. One of our dental or vision physicians is coming from six and a half hours away, outside of the Philadelphia area,” said Bednard. “It’s a labor of care and a sacrifice they are making as well.”
Organizers said having the clinic in a familiar neighborhood can also help people feel more comfortable seeking care.
“It is your neighbors, it’s in your neighborhood center at the Erie Center for Arts and Technology, in a familiar part of Erie on the east side on East Avenue,” Bednard said. “And it’s those individuals who are out working with people in our community, from the doctors to the volunteers, people you are going to see at the grocery store, people you are going to see walking around your neighborhood. I think that’s a beautiful thing.”
Bednard said ECAT was chosen as the location because the surrounding neighborhood is considered a medical desert.
“The reasoning behind holding it here at the Erie Center for Arts and Technology is because this neighborhood is part of a medical desert and RAM’s goal is to meet people where they are at for their medical needs,” Bednard said.
People can begin lining up at midnight at the Erie Center for Arts and Technology. Patients will begin being seen at 6 a.m.