Lifeline: Remote Area Medical (2008) | 60 Minutes Archive
In a Nutshell
Remote Area Medical (RAM), founded by Stan Brock to deliver free volunteer care in remote global areas, now runs weekend clinics in the US for the uninsured and underinsured amid a crisis affecting 47 million Americans. In Knoxville, Tennessee, over 900 patients received donated medical, dental, and vision services—including 166 tooth extractions, 567 fillings, and 500 glasses—but hundreds were turned away after queuing overnight in freezing conditions. The expeditions expose America's healthcare failures, with working poor families traveling hundreds of miles for basic care they can't otherwise afford.
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One of the decisive issues in the presidential campaign is health insurance. Texas and Ohio have nearly 7 million uninsured residents. Nationwide, 47 million have no health insurance. Millions more are underinsured, unable to pay deductibles or access dental care.
Remote Area Medical (RAM) airdrops doctors and medicine into the Amazon jungles but now operates emergency clinics in America where needs are greatest. RAM, founded to help people unable to reach medical care, throws America a lifeline.
RAM set up a massive clinic in an exhibit hall for a weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tools for dentists laid out by the yard. Optometrists prepared hundreds of pairs of glasses. General medical doctors ready for any cases. Nearly everything donated. All volunteers. Care free. Unknown patient numbers.
Stan Brock, RAM founder, opened the gate before midnight. Clinic opens in 7 hours, but people in pain queued early. State guardsmen handled crowd control, handing out numbered tickets like boarding passes for a medical lifeboat.
Number six.
People brought snacks and blankets, stayed warm at 27°. Young and old spent night in cars, running engines sparingly at $3/gallon gas. At 5:00 a.m., parking lot full.
How long you been out here tonight? Uh, we got up at 3:00 this morning and we got here about 4.
Why'd you come so early? Cuz we wanted to be seen.
Marty Tankersley came with wife and daughter, drove 200 miles from Dalton, Georgia, slept in parking lot 7+ hours for excruciating pain from infected tooth.
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