Dental Health

Clever well being, dental clinics handled extra sufferers than final yr


WISE, Va. — Recent health and dental clinics in Wise reported significant increases in the numbers of patients treated compared to 2023.

Preliminary results show over 600 different medical services were provided to hundreds of patients and over 600 received dental care during the two-day clinic on the campus of the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.

Both represent increases compared to 2023 when more than 400 people were treated in the health care portion and the dental clinic treated about 450 people, organizers said.

Medical providers administered anywhere from 91 electrocardiograms — tests which measure electrical signals in the heart — to two complete physical examinations, according to the Health Wagon, which oversees the medical portion of the event.

Services ranged from basic lab work to eye glasses and examinations, glaucoma testing, X-rays, ultrasounds, bone density scans, colon screenings, pap smears and diabetic education.

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All care at the event is provided at no charge. The medical portion amounted to over $269,200 worth of care, according to the Health Wagon.

Those totals don’t include audiology examinations and hearing aids and some additional data that is still being compiled.

The dental clinic, called Missions of Mercy, treated 612 patients, providing over 3,800 procedures valued at $562,600, organizers said. The dental program is overseen by the Virginia Dental Association Foundation.

Held July 19-20, the event marked the 25th anniversary of the original Remote Area Medical clinic in Wise. The medical portion has been rebranded as Moving Mountains.

Asked if the health care portion of the event will ever not be needed, Dr. Teresa Tyson, CEO of the Health Wagon, said not in her lifetime.

“We’re starting to see a change with more people eligible for Medicaid. Things are going in the right direction,” Tyson said. “But I’ll probably be doing this [event] until the day that I die.”

Health Wagon founder Sister Bernie Kenny said there will always be those people who “fall through the cracks.”

This region has a high percentage of population dealing with high co-morbidities including diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease and hypertension.

“There are high co-pays, high deductibles. I think we have a great health care system if you need surgery or have trauma but it’s lacking in preventive care and people being able to access the diagnostics they need in a timely manner and get that care and treatment early on,” Tyson said.

The Health Wagon just opened a pharmacy to provide medications for those most in need.

“That [pharmacy] will be a gamechanger for us,” Tyson said. “We can get insulin for patients, hypertension medication, psychiatric meds that people so desperately need. We had one patient — disabled from working 40 years in the coal mines and a diabetic — whose monthly bill for his medicine was $1,500. He had a home and a vehicle and didn’t qualify for aid. We had to piece his medications together from samples but we were able to extend his life. If he was here today, I believe now we could add many, many years to his life.”

Prior to opening the pharmacy, Health Wagon has provided over $20 million in free medicine through its Pharmacy Connect program, Tyson said.

About 300 dental volunteers from across the state participated in this year’s clinic and that isn’t likely to change soon.

“As long as we’re needed, we make every effort to come,” said Tara Quinn, executive director of the Virginia Dental Association Foundation.

Dr. Scott Miller, who manages the Appalachian Highlands Community Dental Center in Abingdon — and one of the volunteer dentists at Wise — said that local clinic is starting to lessen the need for larger scale events. In years past the Wise clinic might have been the only time in a year some people are seen by a dentist.

“The Appalachian Highlands Community Dental Center is a daily safety net — five days a week — and not just one day a year standing in line in the hot sun,” Miller said. “When we started we only had one resident and now we have seven. We’ve seen 23,000 people in Abingdon since we started; 80% of our patients are Medicaid. I’ve asked folks and at least half of them have Medicaid.”

Miller said Medicaid expansion has played a significant role.

“Sen. [Todd] Pillion helping expand Medicaid has changed this whole model of health care in a rural setting. If that hadn’t expanded, those people [treated at Abingdon] would be standing here in line.”

dmcgee@bristolnews.com

Twitter: @DMcGeeBHC



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