Alaskans in need of medical and dental services can get care for free in April. Lions Club International and Remote Area Medical will hold free all-ages pop-up medical clinics in Fairbanks and Anchorage. The clinics will offer medical, dental, eye check-ups and care.
Dr. Patrick Campaign, an optometrist who’s coordinating the clinics, said the clinic is open to everyone, whether they have insurance or not.
“Whether or not they can afford health care, if they have health care but can’t afford a deductible, or if they don’t qualify- It is no-holds-barred. No insurance, no payment, no IDs even necessary,” Campaign said. “We really want to make sure to impact those who just fall between the cracks, which there’s actually a pretty large dynamic of that community up here.”
Campaign said this is the second year they’ve held the clinics and the clinics served over 500 people last year.
“I remember in particular up in Fairbanks a cute little five year old boy who never had an eye examination,” Campaign said. “[He had] a little difficulty with reading, but the parents just figured that was the case for him. With the dilated eye examination with the full evaluation, it turned out that he needed prescription glasses pretty bad. He was compensating a lot.”
Campaign said there will be comprehensive care at the pop-up clinics including free lab testing and dental X-rays. And he said even people who have a current prescription can get free glasses.
Campaign said the clinics are volunteer-run and they’re seeking more volunteers, both health-care providers and lay people. The free pop-up clinic will be held April 20-21 at Begich Middle School in Anchorage and April 27-28 at Ryan Middle School in Fairbanks. The clinics start at 6am and Campaign said it’s best to come early. You can find more details on Remote Area Medical’s website.
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Rachel Cassandra covers health and wellness for Alaska Public Media. Reach her atrcassandra@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Rachel here.
