Baltimore area residents can get free medical and dental services this weekend

Remote Area Medical, a non-profit provider of free pop-up clinics, will offer medical and dental services in Northeast Baltimore this Saturday and Sunday. All services are free and no identification is required.

Services include general practice exams, women’s health exams, dental cleanings, dental fillings, tooth extractions, and dental x-rays.

The nonprofit also typically offers free eye exams and glasses, but has been unable to secure enough volunteers in the Baltimore area.

While it’s disappointing we can’t provide vision services, we’re still happy to provide free dental and medical services in the Baltimore area, said Chris Cannon, media relations coordinator for Remote Area Medicals.

Cannon said volunteers typically come from all over the United States to organize an event, but Maryland regulations require out-of-state vendors to go through a more involved process to apply for a volunteer and pay a fee through the state board. home state, then get approval from the Maryland Board which may be a deterrent, he said. So the nonprofit has had to rely heavily on local volunteers and hasn’t been able to find willing visual service providers, she said.

Clinics are usually set up in large tents or in school gymnasiums; this weekend’s event will be held at Stadium School in the city’s Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhood. If a medical issue is identified at the clinic and requires follow-up care, the local nonprofit partner, DentMed, will connect patients with primary or specialty care in the area, Cannon said.

Clinics will open at 6am on Saturdays and Sundays, but queues typically form much earlier. The patient car park will open no later than 11:59pm (midnight) on Friday evening, according to a press release, and will remain open for the duration of the clinic. Once patients are in the parking lot, they will receive more information about the clinic’s opening processes and next steps, the release said.

Patients are encouraged to arrive as early as possible, especially if they are seeking dental services.

This weekend will be Remote Area Medical’s third time hosting a pop-up healthcare event in Baltimore; previous events took place in 2017 and 2018.

Founded in 1985 by retired British cowboy Stan Brock, who died in 2018, Remote Area Medical was originally conceived as a provider of free medical care in remote areas of developing countries, but demand in the United States driven by poverty and the number of uninsured people was so high that it caused a change in concentration. The first pop-up clinic event in the United States took place in Sneedville, Tennessee in 1992.

Since its founding, more than 196,000 volunteer healthcare workers and support staff have treated more than 900,000 people by providing more than $189.5 million worth of free healthcare services at Remote Area Medical events, according to the organization’s website.

What: Remote Area Medical, in collaboration with DentMed, will organize pop-up clinics offering free medical and dental services.

When: Saturday 10 June and Sunday 11 June. Doors open at 6am and services will be provided until capacity is exhausted. Lines often form much earlier.

Where: The Stadium School, located at 1400 Exeter Hall Ave. in Baltimore.

Parking: Patient parking will open by 11.59pm (midnight) Friday evening and will remain open for the duration of the clinic. Remote Area Medical encourages anyone wanting services, especially dental services, to arrive as soon as possible.

sarah.true@thebaltimorebanner.com