Desperation fuels hunt for health care in US

CHARLESTON, USA - OCTOBER 21: Remote Area Medical hosts a free medical clinic for the poor and under or uninsured in Charleston, W.Va., USA on October 21, 2017. Massive makeshift mobile clinic provides health care to uninsured, but uphill battle remains in world's richest country. Nearly all of the patients Anadolu Agency spoke to spent the frosty night in their cars, some arriving as early as Friday afternoon, hoping to securing a spot in the two-day medical clinic that seems on first glance out of place in the United States. RAM’s clinics are far more akin to operations in refugee camps and isolated communities abroad than a service Americans in major cities are forced to flock to for health care. In fact, the medical non-profit was originally envisioned as a service for far-afield communities in the developing world, not for major population centers in the world’s wealthiest country. That changed in 1985 when RAM’s founder was asked to help a small community in rural Tennessee. The makeshift hospitals fill a major void in the American health care system. At the clinic Saturday and Sunday, RAM performed 88 tooth extractions, gave out 274 pairs of glasses and provided 232 other medical services to those in need. In all, RAM said its services for the weekend were valued at $221,000. Nearly all of the more than 400 people who worked in Charleston, which was one of RAM’s smaller operations, were volunteers. If they had been paid they would have been compensated $197,000. The clinics and similar services are direly needed for many who either lack health insurance altogether, or vision and dental coverage. Interviews with Stan Brooks, Virginia Brooks, Dr. Randy Swain and 62-year-old retired nurse Chiquita Followay on Saturday.(Footage by Michael Hernandez/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)