How Much Care Goes Into Health Care?
Every July since 1999 the fairgrounds in Wise, Virginia have been turned into a field hospital by the “Remote Area Medical Expedition”. Free care is provided to those in need. Sanitized horse stalls become examining rooms. A poultry barn is fitted with optometry equipment. An open-air pavilion is filled with dental chairs and lamps. A converted 18-wheeler is an x-ray facility. During the 3-day event 2,700 people from 16 states were treated. Over 50% had no health insurance and 47% were underinsured. In 2009 expeditions are scheduled from Virginia to California – filing in gaps in the health care system.
The first retail clinics opened in 2000, providing more convenient and less expensive health care. A 2009 study published in the “Annals of Internal Medicine” compared the treatment of 3 routine illnesses – ear infection, sore throat and urinary track infection – at retail clinics, doctors’ offices, urgent… Read More…
