Shane W Potter

A physical therapist with Concordia Lutheran Ministries is planning a mission trip that will take place “in your own backyard.”

Lynn McKinnis is the lead of the community host group for Remote Area Medical, a nonprofit provider of pop-up clinics that travels around the nation to coordinate free medical care in underserved areas. She is helping organize a clinic on Nov. 11 and 12 at Butler Intermediate High School, which is meant to bring care to the more than 8,000 uninsured individuals living in Butler County.

“Everyone who is insured is struggling to make copays and deductibles, especially for vision and dental,” McKinnis said. “We are anticipating anywhere from 200 to 600 patients to come over the weekend, but that depends on how many volunteers we get.”

McKinnis has been organizing the visit from RAM for more than a year now, and said it could help a lot of people in the area not only receive care, but learn about where to follow up for further checkups or treatment following the clinic.

McKinnis said the clinic is getting support from the Jean B. Purvis Community Health Center, Independence Health System, VA Butler Healthcare and the Center for Community Resources. Additionally, Butler Area School District is donating the use of the intermediate high school for the clinic.

According to McKinnis, RAM sets up all of the infrastructure needed to host a high-volume pop-up medical clinic, and local coordinators rally enough volunteers and any additional funding needed to put it on in their area.

“We need more dental and vision providers; that's the hardest to get,” McKinnis said. “We're doing great with nursing and medical doctors, but we are in great need of dental and vision providers.”

McKinnis also said the clinic is especially aimed at people who need care for chronic conditions, or those who may need glasses or dental treatment.

“It's not going to be like an emergency department. It's going to be people with chronic issues who haven't seen a doctor in years,” she said. “We will do lab work, general physicals, and we will follow up with Jean B. Purvis, which is a big piece.”

Mark Yankasky, the social determinants of health VISTA for Butler SUCCEED, said the organization is also promoting the clinic, because of its potential positive health effect on the community.

“One of the priorities we had for the fall is determining social effects on health,” Yankasky said. “When we heard about RAM, we wanted to shift focus to get the word out.”

McKinnis said the clinic has received financial support from the Butler AM Rotary Club, and Concordia has pledged to match donations dollar for dollar up to $100,000.

Now, she is focused on getting vision and dental providers to volunteer at the clinic, so it can handle the potential volume of patients in need in Butler County. McKinnis said she hopes to have RAM clinics come to Butler County every other year, so people in need can keep up with their healthcare intermittently.

“Concordia is matching dollar for dollar up to $100,000, which is more than we need for one clinic, but anything we don't use can go into future clinics,” McKinnis said. “Most of the providers in Butler are very generous.”

People interested in volunteering at the clinic can visit ramusa.org, and click “volunteer” to find the Butler clinic. For more information, including to sign up as a medical provider, contact McKinnis at 724-496-2504, or email her at lmck@zoominternet.net.