Hundreds spend night at the Forum to get free medical care

Hundreds of people spent the night outside the Forum in Inglewood in hopes of getting free medical and dental care.

More than 2,000 sought services on the first day of the medical clinic -- and hundreds were turned away. People were lined up Tuesday night, hoping to get in. The MTA announced it was extending service of Line 115 because of "overwhelming demand" for service to the clinic, which runs for eight days.

The Remote Area Medical Foundation is a trailer-equipped service that has staged health clinics in rural parts of the United States, Mexico and South America. It brought its health camp to urban Los Angeles County on Tuesday to begin a stint that the group's officials described as its first foray into a major urban setting.

Organizers expected big crowds in a county with high unemployment and an estimated 22% of working-age adults lacking health insurance.

On Tuesday, the turnout was so large that hundreds had to be turned away.

"We're shorthanded," said the mobile clinic's founder, Stan Brock. About 100 dentists were needed, but only about 30 showed up Tuesday. Twenty eye doctors were required, but only about five were on hand, Brock said.

The mobile clinic, based in Knoxville, Tenn., has staged 576 medical clinics over the last 25 years. They have treated nearly 380,000 patients and provided care valued at $36.9 million, said Executive Director Karen Wilson. The group raises money through contributions.

Doctors, nurses and other medical workers who donated their time said most visitors' ailments were basic. But "many have chronic diseases -- high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma -- conditions we can't deal with in just one day," said Dr. Nancy Greep of Santa Monica. Some had problems, such as a recurring cancer, that demand long-term treatment.

-- Bob Pool and Kimi Yoshino

Photo: Dozens of patients receive dental care Tuesday at The Forum in Inglewood. More photos

Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times.

Comments

[Amyjo Marsh]

How embarrassing! A medical program founded to aid the sick of the world's poorest nations has to care for some residents of this, the world's richest! Isn't it time we grow up and show the world that here, in the best country on the planet, we gladly share our blessings with our fellow citizens who are less fortunate than we?

[SeanBoy]

Why so few medical doctors volunteered their times to help? I guess being a doctor is not what it used to be nowdays. No wonder our health care system is the best in the world.

[VeronicaH]

The services are obviously needed, but this speaks horribly to the medical insurance issues of this nation. Thank God for the volunteer staff of this project.

"......but for the grace of God!"

[steve rodriguez]

I guess this is what Obama care will look like!!!!

[Hypatia]

Am I the only one who thinks it's obscene for our society to call health care an "industry" rather than a human right? Such that dedicated volunteers must bring to the needy the services that society should be providing? Let's pressure our legislators to stop taking contributions from Big Pharma and Big Insurance to perpetuate the broken system that forces the underserved to wait in the middle of the night, hoping to get the care they can't afford.

[Gayle]

I wish these big mouths who are opposed to Universal Health Care and believing the hysteria, come on out to the Fourm and see their fellow Americans, who are here legally who has to go to events like this . These health care disruptors need a reality check.

[Wow]

That's jaw-dropping. Does this kind of thing happen in Canada or England? This is why we need health care reform. Major media should be covering this big time. The Dems should be pointing this out. How do the volunteer providers feel about health care reform?

[Robb]

"22% of working-age adults lacking health insurance" maybe if they spent more time looking for work and less time in line for free goods and services they would have insurnace?

[Cobra Advocate]

This is a great service that The Remote Area Medical Foundation is providing to the LA region. It is sad that so many had to be turned away but that is the recourse of being understaffed. Hopefully more doctors will show up and those who don't need care will not go and allow those who do need the care get it.

All our Prayers and Hope go out to those that desperately need the care and to those in The Remote Area Medical Foundation that are providing it, free of charge.

[Bill L]

Unfortunately, most of the people who need this desperately won't be able to get to the Forum and wait all night and day for the chance to get the medical care they can't afford. This does not take away from the great effort and effectiveness of the Stan Brock, the doctors, and other health care workers there.

But imagine if this could be offered every day, inside clean offices without waiting all night, with a check to make sure that those who had money weren't just taking a free ride, like the man seeking a $400 root canal I heard on the radio, but not forcing people into poverty or requiring they have children before they can get medical care.

Clean, safe, cheap medical care with some income check, but not extreme poverty and a check on the medical prices and other regulations to keep health insurance prices lower.

That's the health care reforms proposed by President Obama.

We should get on board,.

[DeAnn RN]

I was one of many, but sorely inadequate numbers of nurses, doctors, and dentists who volunteered to provide basic medical care to the public on opening day at the Forum Tuesday. Remote Area Medical started out providing services in third world countries. Now it has found itself setting up shop in one of the largest and most affluent urban areas in the country.

Among the 1,500 people who lined up in the middle of the night, were many people who had insurance but couldn’t afford the deductibles or needed services that their plan didn't cover. Several patients with asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure had recently lost their jobs. They brought with them empty med containers of life-saving prescriptions they could no longer afford.

Sporadic, well-intended charity events are no substitute for comprehensive reform. America ’s front-line nurses call for a healthcare system that doesn't leave patients at the mercy of private insurers. Single-payer legislation, such as HR 676, expanded and improved Medicare-for-all, is the only plan that makes that a reality.

[Beverly Khosh]

This is what the public needs to see more of: real, concrete examples of why our country needs health care reform now. Instead of giving news time to loudmouthed, ignornant disrupters of town hall meetings, we need to show more stories like this.