CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Those in the Charleston area in need of free and essential healthcare services will get a one-day opportunity to receive that this Saturday.
West Virginia Health Right will host its inaugural We Care Day, a one-day clinic offering free medical, dental and vision services.
WV Health Right has been partnering with the Remote Area Medical Center since 2016 to host a similar clinic at the Bible Center, but this year marks the organization’s first time doing it all on their own. WV Health Right CEO Dr. Angie Settle said the event has gotten so big, they decided to host it at their newly-renovated WV Health Right facility on Charleston’s East End this year.
Settle said it’s a great opportunity for those in the community who may otherwise be held back from getting these services due to financial barriers.
“It’s just an event for people to come and get healthcare, no questions asked,” Settle said. “We know there’s co-pays and deductibles and everything that stand in the way, and this is a great event where we have great volunteers like Dr. Stansbury where they’re coming in, giving up their time, and it’s basically just a day where West Virginians help other West Virginians.”
Local optometrist, Dr. Chris Stansbury serves as the vision lead for the clinic, Dr. Tom Takubo the lead medical volunteer and Dr. Michael Tupta as the lead dental. Stansbury joined Settle on 580 Live with Dave Allen Tuesday.
He said he got involved with this clinic, because, coming out of the devastating 2016 flood, he saw how much people had lost, how much they needed, and how much they continue to need since.
“Just the utter devastation that some people faced, they lost their dentures, they lost their glasses, they lost their medications, they lost everything, and Angie had a great idea, she said let’s set up a clinic where we can take care of these people and really just reach out into the community and do whatever we can in that hour of need, and what we have found is that hour of need never stopped,” Stansbury said.
He said there are newcomers to the clinic every year who say the same things, they can’t afford medical exams, they can’t afford new glasses, etc.
Stansbury went onto to say that this one-day clinic has been capable of making a huge impact on people’s lives and well-being.
He said a specific instance of this is when a man came in one year just looking for a new pair of glasses and had no idea anything serious was going on in the back of his eyes. But, Stansbury said when they took a look back there they ended up finding and diagnosing him with a rare form of cancer known as Choroidal Melanoma.
He said it would have been a far worse outcome for the man if he hadn’t have come in to the clinic that day looking for new glasses.
“If left untreated, it can metastasize or spread to places like the liver, the lungs, and it can be fatal,” said Stansbury. “So, fortunately for this gentleman, he came into the clinic, we were able to get him referred out to one of our local retina specialists who was able to treat the cancer with a radioactive plaque, get that thing to shrivel up and die, and thankfully, save his life.”
The one-day event will offer general check-ups, HIV and HCV rapid testing, flu and COVID vaccines, eye exams, teeth cleanings, and extractions and more.
Settle said so far they have about 150 volunteers signed up to help with the event.
She said the event wouldn’t be able to happen without the collaborative effort from these doctors and volunteers.
“Everybody that’s coming is because they want to be there, they’re volunteers, and again, my favorite saying, it’s about West Virginians helping West Virginians, and I love this event because it shows our heart,” said Settle.
People can still sign-up to volunteer by going to Wecarewv.org.
We Care Day will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 19. at 1520 Washington Street East, Charleston.