Jamestown Community College recently hosted an event which will be long remembered and hopefully repeated in the future. Free healthcare was provided to all comers regardless of insurance. Except for name, address and optional demographic information, for example, how far did you drive, etc., no additional information was required. Dental, medical, vision and hearing were provided in the JCC Physical Education Building, which was turned into a huge healthcare operation. The request for dental was clearly the greatest demand.

The amazing RAM organization came to town, bringing with them a gigantic truck for transporting equipment and supplies. Among their ranks were volunteers from around the entire county. Our own local volunteers joined them for the duration as well as significant pre and post work, in service to our community.

RAM stands for Remote Area Medical, a not-for-profit charity organization based in Tennessee. It conducts pop up medical clinics throughout the county. There are core RAM workers and many volunteers. Among them at the JCC Ram event were young people from Penn State which has a RAM club. Two that I met were students studying premedical courses. One was from Missouri and the other from Tennessee. The scope of this volunteer movement was so impressive.

The amazing one-and-a-half-day clinic literally transformed the JCC Physical Ed building. The elaborate setup for the largest service, the Dental Area, was a sight to behold. There were at least 20 individual “dental offices”. X-ray, teeth cleaning, and extractions were provided to patients. Sterilization of equipment was ongoing with a bank of autoclaves as part of the setup. One had to have seen the set up to believe it!

Two JCC administrative nurses, Christine Schuyler and Paula Snyder headed up the preparations and execution of our local RAM Clinic, one from the Jamestown campus and the other from the Olean campus. In addition to JCC employees and nursing students, important local and regional players were UB Dental, St. Bonaventure University’s BonaResponds, local dentists, hygienists, physicians, nurses, optometrists, and their sapport staff. Local sponsors contributed monetary donations, meals, lodging and other support for RAM volunteers and the many local volunteers. All fit into place beautifully. The Resource Center was on site providing care coordination and referrals for follow-up services. The Chautauqua County Health Department’s mobile van was in the parking lot offering health education and vaccinations. The Cancer Services Program provided information and referral opportunities.

All services mentioned above and more were not only free, but those who used the services were treated with dignity, kindness and caring. It was an inspiration to see. The outside world seems to be in a turmoil, but seeing the comings and goings of the RAM clinic sure provided hope and inspiration

Kudos to JCC for hosting such an amazing weekend, and for all the work it entailed. Hats off to the RAM organization and its expertise, and many, many thanks to our own local organizations, funders, supporters and volunteers.

Dr. Lillian Vitanza Ney is a retired physician and Jamestown resident.