Stacy Rector drove to Grass Valley from Sacramento early Sunday morning to do something he hasn’t done in 14 years — sit in a dentist’s chair and have his teeth cleaned.
Rector and his aunt arrived at the Grass Valley Veterans Memorial Building at 3:30 a.m. to take advantage of a no-cost medical clinic offered Saturday and Sunday.
After his dental work was completed, Rector said he went into the bathroom at the veterans building, looked in the mirror and couldn’t stop smiling.
“It’s really awesome,” Rector said.
For the 43-year-old who is disabled and currently doesn’t have health insurance, the clinic was an opportunity to receive medical care he can’t otherwise afford.
“I am completely amazed at the organization and the ease with which everything has been done here, I’ve never seen anything like it.”Volunteer Robin Wallace
“It just shows that somebody is thinking about people who are less fortunate,” Rector said.
Rector is one of several hundred people who showed up at the veterans building over the weekend seeking medical, dental and vision services at the clinic, which was organized by the Roseville-based nonprofit California CareForce, an organization that aims to provide free health care services to Californians in need.
In partnership with the California Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, California CareForce has held 11 free clinics throughout the state since 2011.
More than 70 medical professionals, including dentists, nurses, medical doctors, optometrists and oral surgeons, volunteered their time for the Grass Valley clinic, which was also supported by several different health-care entities, including Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, Sierra Family Medical Clinic, Western Sierra Medical Clinic and the Chapa-De Indian Health Program.
In addition, more than 350 volunteers were on hand to help, and several local churches, businesses and services organizations donated food for those volunteers.
The clinic was expected to provide an estimated $450,000 in health care services, said lead Grass Valley host organizer Mindy Oberne.
Oberne said the clinic served around 400 people on Saturday, and an additional several hundred on Sunday, many of whom arrived in the early hours of the morning to be seen on a first-come, first-served basis.
“They’re so relieved, number one, that anyone cares, and number two, that they can actually be taken care of,” Oberne said.
On Sunday, a couple dozen people were receiving dental care at makeshift work stations set up in the middle of the room. In another area, eye exams were being administered, after which patients could pick out their desired frames and receive a new pair of glasses.
Next door at Grass Valley Charter School, patients could have their blood pressure taken, get a flu shot or receive other medical care behind the privacy of partitions.
“I am completely amazed at the organization and the ease with which everything has been done here,” said Robin Wallace, who was volunteering at the clinic on Sunday, helping patients check in and escorting them to their exams and procedures. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
She said it was “powerful” to observe how many people showed up.
“You realize that people go without” when they can’t afford health care, Wallace said.
For Jovanna, who declined to give her last name, it was a “relief” that she was able to get her vision checked and get new glasses at the clinic on Sunday. The 37-year-old office manager doesn’t have health insurance, and said it was worth arriving at the Veterans building at 4:30 a.m. to get an exam.
“It’s a godsend that you can come and do this,” she said.
Mary Baron, 60, expressed the same sentiment as she sat in a dentist chair, waiting to have work performed on a decaying tooth. She called the clinic “the highest blessing.”
“I just flat-out don’t have the funds to go to the dentist,” Baron said.
Oberne said the clinic’s turnout shows how many people in the area are without insurance or are under-insured, and underscores how important it is to provide those people with basic medical care.
“It says that we need this, and we need this on a regular basis,” Oberne said.
She called it “invigorating” to see the community come together to support the event.
“When you’re helping people and you know you’re making a difference, it’s empowering,” Oberne said.
Source: http://www.theunion.com/news/19099180-113/hundreds-turn-out-for-medical-dental-services-at#
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