With less than 24 hours to go before Alabama’s first Remote Area Medical Clinic, preparations are underway at Gadsden City High School.
Potential patients will begin to line up at midnight tonight for the doors to open at 6 a.m. on Saturday. The clinic will see patients for 12 hours on Saturday, ending at 6 p.m.
The clinic will also open at 6 a.m. on Sunday but will close at 1 p.m.
RAM Clinics aim to give those in rural areas general health, dental and vision care at no cost or questions asked.
“This is going to be one of the biggest clinics we do all year,” said Josh Brown, a member of RAM’s marketing team. “It means a lot to be able to increase our footprint, see as many people as possible and provide free health care to them.”
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RAM Clinics were first set up in Tennessee in 1985. Since their founding, RAM has partnered with UAB for smaller-scale events such as vision clinics, but this will be their first full-scaled operation within the state.
The clinic will have 60 dental chairs set up by the start of the clinic, with an additional 10 vision lanes and three medical bays for both general care and women’s health care.
Brown said there was no way for them to estimate how many patients they will see within the next two days, but they plan to treat as many people as possible
“Anything medical, dental and vision services related, we are planning on serving it,” he said. “It can be anything from tooth extractions to vision services and prescription eyeglasses made.”
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He added that patients who plan on visiting the clinic should think about getting into the parking lot as early as possible.
“We operate on a first-come, first-serve basis. That’s really important to make sure people get seen,” Brown said. “Sometimes, people will have to wait a bit but we have very expansive coverage for what we provide.”
He added, “If you’re not feeling well and you are available close by to the clinic, come out and come out early.”
Watch the full video tour of Gadsden’s RAM Clinic here:
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Alabama’s first RAM Clinic opens this Saturday
