CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A free pop-up health clinic is returning to Charleston this weekend after taking off the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
West Virginia Health Right, in partnership with Tennessee-based Remote Area Medical, will welcome hundreds of people back to the Bible Center School on June 4-5.
Patients may receive free dental, vision or medical care no matter their insurance status. HIV testing, Hepatitis C testing and COVID-19 vaccines will be available on site.
“All your local doctors that you know and love, nurses, medical people, pharmacists that come together for two days to take care of anyone in need no questions ask. We don’t ask your income or if you have insurance,” said West Virginia Health Right CEO Angie Settle.
Settle spoke about the upcoming event on “580 Live” heard on MetroNews flagship station 580-WCHS in Charleston before a news conference Tuesday morning.
The Bible Center School parking lot will open at midnight on Saturday and numbered tickets will be handed out around 3 a.m., but Settle said people can arrive at any time that day.
Settle said she expects a lot of people to come out to the clinic because some have put off health care needs during the pandemic.
Sen. Tom Takubo (R-Kanawha, 17) is one of the participating doctors that will be on site.
“It’s not just an eye exam where you get a pair of glasses. They do a full ophthalmic to make sure you don’t have cancer or retinal problems,” said Takubo, also a guest on Tuesday’s “580 Live” with host Dave Allen.
People attending the clinics should bring their current medications. Identifications and insurance cards are not required.
The first pop-clinic launched in 2016 following West Virginia’s devastating flood that claimed 23 lives and destroyed hundreds of homes. Settle said they received a lot of calls for people in need of health care. The event has grown since then.
“We have 400-600 volunteers, so everybody is there because they care about the community,” Settle said. “I always like to say it’s West Virginians helping West Virginians.”