Remote Area Medical is celebrating the organization's 900th clinic with a five-day event in Knoxville from January 31 through February 4, 2018.

During the five days, RAM coordinated to provide dental, vision and medical care to children and families at Chilhowee Park's Jacob Building located at 3301 East Magnolia Avenue in Knoxville. All services are free of charge, and no insurance or identification is required.

"We are facing a serious crisis, and it is not just poor folks who are suffering," RAM founder and President Stan Brock said. "Washington continues to debate the cost of health care, the costs continue to rise, and our numbers are not getting any lower."

Patient parking for the Knoxville clinic was set up on-site and was scheduled to open at 12 a.m. midnight on Wednesday, January 31. Ticket distribution was scheduled to begin at 3 a.m., and officials said patients would be seen in chronological order according to ticket numbers. Clinic doors were planned to open at 6 a.m.

"When you don't have your insurance, it makes it easier to get the services you need," patient Robin Whaley told Local 8 News.

Whaley arrived several hours before the parking lot even opened, waiting to get a "good spot in line" so she could get a new pair of glasses.

"They're going to stay here all night long in the cold, bracing the cold," Doug Beeler on the board of directors at RAM told Local 8 News. "We see families struggling that work every day just like everyone else. They're just having trouble making ends meet."

Beeler said when parking lots open, RAM usually experiences a surge of folks trying to get in, "just like rush hour on a major interstate."

Services provided at the clinic include dental cleanings, dental fillings, dental extractions, dental x-rays, dentures (on a limited basis), eye exams, eyeglass prescriptions, free eyeglasses made on-site, women's health exams and general medical exams. RAM officials said patients at the clinic would also be able to register their unaltered household pets for free spay and neuter surgeries. Pets should

not

be taken to the RAM clinic, however.

RAM said the organization expected to treat more than 2,500 people during the five-day clinic.

In 2017, RAM saw a 33 percent increase in the number of patients treated at clinics held. That number included patients who attended clinics in large metropolitan areas, and clinics that were held after hurricane devastation in areas like Puerto Rico.

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