Each year, volunteers with Remote Area Medical, an organization that provides free health care to those in need, operate a three-day field hospital in rural Wise County, Va. The event draws hundreds of patients -- many of whom show up hours or days in advance to make sure they get a chance to see a doctor or other health care professional. Here, a woman sleeps in her car around 4 a.m. on the clinic's first day.
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Teressa Gardner, one of the event's coordinators, and staffers Andy Nielson and Carol Turner watch the crowd gather in the fairgrounds parking lot. Volunteers transform the fairgrounds into a field hospital.
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People still in their morning robes arrive early to collect one of the coveted numbers that will give them a chance to see a doctor.
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Syncere Moore, 5, waits in line with his grandfather, Kenneth Plaster. In this rural corner of Appalachia, the poverty rate is 19.2 percent, and the per capita income is only about $14,000 a year.
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Stan Brock, founder of Remote Area Medical, watches over the first day of the event. "The need is massive," Brock says. "We pick up everything from brain tumors to lung cancer to cervical cancer to breast cancer."
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Anthony Blevins, 8, rests on the ground as his family waits in line nearby.
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James Smith, left, waits with many others in the grandstand area of the Wise County Fairgrounds for his group to proceed to yet another line for services. The clinic offers free medical, dental and vision care on a first-come, first-served basis, so lines start early and get long quickly.
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Behind the scenes, hundreds of medical volunteers prepare to treat patients.
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Staff members help patient Norma Olinger, who was feeling faint from the long wait at the vision service area. Every year, there are "downers," people who collapse from fatigue, hunger or illness while waiting for care.
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A volunteer calls for medical help after an exhausted patient collapses.
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Chester White traveled from Tennessee intending only to see a dentist but learned he could see a dermatologist while he was waiting. A surgeon removed an egg-sized cyst from his cheek that had been growing for eight years.
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Linda Bates is comforted by her boyfriend, Steven Culbertson, after having 15 teeth pulled.
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In the dental tent, patients are lined up for care with almost assembly-line precision.
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Melanie Locke checks out her new dentures after just getting them fitted. Melanie was born with a cleft palate and has not had what she calls "a real smile" all of her life.
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Dr. Michael Clark looks on as dental hygienist Stacey Cornett gets a hug from patient Melanie Locke, who was fitted with dentures specially made to accommodate her cleft palate. More than 800 doctors, dentists and other health-care professionals volunteer at the event.
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Several dental specialists examine a patient. The need for the medical and dental services provided by the clinic is especially great in this part of Appalachia, where jobs are scarce and the number of accessible medical professionals is dwindling.
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Dr. Vincent Voci, left, performs surgery on Carolyn Martin of McClure, Va.
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For some dental patients, the only hope for relief from pain is to get all of their remaining teeth pulled, so they can get dentures.
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A group waits for tooth extractions. By the end of the three-day event, volunteers will have pulled more than 4,000 teeth.
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Linda Yates, a diabetic, gets her feet checked by a podiatrist at the medical tent. She hadn't been to a regular doctor in 12 years. "I ignored myself for a long time," Yates says. Now she realizes that too many people are counting on her for her to falter. "I've got to be there for my children, my grandchildren and my husband."
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Mark Mullens gets his eyes tested in the makeshift optical care area at the fairgrounds.
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Melissa Barton holds Kody Barton, 1, alongside her older daughter Emily, 12, as they wait with crowds of others in the middle of the night. The number of uninsured Americans has climbed by 12 million since 1990, according to a 2007 report from the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of underinsured Americans has risen 60 percent since 2003, according to the Commonwealth Fund.
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Scott Mullins waits for his films after getting x-rays. The results showed some problems in his lungs; doctors advised him to get further treatment.
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By the end of the three-day clinic, about 2,670 people have received medical treatment worth more than $1.7 million.
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Gallery Credits:
Producer, Photo Editor Troy Witcher
Text Editor Amanda McGrath
