CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Those at West Virginia Health Right are planning another one-day event to provide free and essential healthcare services to the community.
West Virginia Health Right officials and healthcare providers came together for a press conference Wednesday at its East End Clinic in Charleston to begin preparations for the first-ever #WeCareWV Day. It’s a day dedicated to providing community members with free medical services, dental, and vision care.
Dr. Chris Stansbury and Dr. Angie Settle
Although it’s the first-ever event known as We Care Day, this initiative at WV Health Right is nothing new as formerly they held a similar one-day free healthcare event known as the Remote Area Medical clinic.
WV Health Right CEO Dr. Angie Settle said the event is a way to show West Virginian’s in need of free medical services that Health Right cares.
“No questions asked, we’re not going to worry about an insurance card, we’re not going to worry about pre-certification, we’re not going to do any of that, it’s just a day where we come in, we provide medical care, dental care, vision care, and there will be a lot of other services, immunization, testing, things like that, but for people, no questions asked,” Settle said.
The one-day event will offer general check-ups, chronic disease management, acute care services, HIV and HCV rapid testing, and flu and COVID vaccines on the medical side.
For the dental services, the event will offer extractions, cleanings, and essential dental treatments, and for vision, free eye exams with glasses being ordered and provided on the spot.
These services will be provided by professional medical, dental and vision experts.
One of those medical professionals is local optometrist Dr. Chris Stansbury. He will be assisting with the eye exams and procedures at the event.
Stansbury said eye problems tend to come on slowly and by offering these exams, they are able to detect developing issues in the eye ahead of time before the problem worsens.
“Like cataracts for instance, some people may have a gradual decline in vision, we take a look at them and see they have pretty advanced cataracts that glasses won’t be able to fix, and inform them they will need cataract surgery, or they may have some other undiagnosed issues like glaucoma, macular degeneration, you know there’s other eye issues that can go on without really them knowing,” Stansbury said.
Settle said that offering free services removes financial barriers to healthcare to people in the community who may have otherwise thought they were out of reach.
She said the event also helps medical professionals get back to the root of what they do, which is helping people in need.
“It’s great for the community but it’s also great for the profession, because it’s a day to come together with other people and remind them, you know, why did you go to school, why did you do what you do, why did you choose to practice here in West Virginia,” Settle said.
They are still looking for more volunteers to help provide these services, particularly eye care professionals, including optometrists, ophthalmologists, opticians and more. Those who want to volunteer can register at WeCareWVDay.org.
The event will be held Sat., October 19th from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Charleston’s East End WV Health Right Clinic, 1520 Washington St. E.