By Denise Ortuno Neil
With the high cost of health care, most of us are either under-insured, or not insured at all even with the new government imposed healthcare act. But thanks to the people at California CareForce, and the generosity of Goldenvoice, help has come to the Coachella Valley giving residents the opportunity to receive a variety of healthcare services for free.
The words “free” and “healthcare” hardly go together. But the non-profit 501c3 organization California CareForce has been hard at work trying to change that offering free clinics throughout California since 2011.
The organization was formerly part of RAM (Remote Area Medical) based out of Tennessee and was limited to the amount of clinics that they could provide as the equipment would have to be brought out to California as explained by the organizations President, Pamela Congdon. But as of last year, the group was able to purchase their own equipment through generous donations enabling them to move forward on their own and produce more clinics, “Now we can do even more because we have our own equipment,” said Congdon.
The organization puts together free clinics offering services that include limited medical, dental and vision. They are completely run by volunteers which are the core of California CareForce. The volunteers come to the event at their own expense, some even traveling from across the country, “Everyone who’s here (volunteers) really wants to be here,” said Congdon. The clinic has over 500 volunteers a day, half of which are medical professionals.
The California CareForce clinic in Indio has been sponsored by Goldenvoice for the past two years. The music festival giant makes sure that the clinic has supplies, including eyeglass frames and feeding the many volunteers throughout the duration of the event, “They want to give back to the community that has helped make them so successful, Goldenvoice are an incredible group of people,” said Congdon.
The clinic was held at the Riverside County Fairgrounds in Indio April 3rd through the 6th. Patients desiring to be seen could get in line as early as 3:30am to secure treatment, with services starting at 6am. The patients could have Medical and then choose between Dental and Vision, because the clinic gets inundated with the need for those services and could not offer both at the same time, “Most people who are insured don’t have Dental or Vision coverage, so about 80% of people who come to the clinic come for those services,” said Congdon. Patients were able to come back the following day to receive the other service that they didn’t get the first day.
The impressive clinic took up two buildings at the fairgrounds, one of which completely dedicated to Vision. Patients were able to get new eyeglasses after being examined, with the lenses cut on the premises. The variety of new eyeglass frames included name brands such as Ralph Lauren and Tommy Bahama all donated by different organizations. Volunteers helped patients choose eyeglass frames. Patients like Lana Craig from Palm Springs who’s health insurance policy does not offer Vision, was happy to get new glasses, “I think this event is really good, because a lot of people who are insured don’t have Dental or Vision coverage,” said Craig. “It’s so great to see somebody come out, especially little kids, that are so proud of their new glasses,” said Congdon.
To make the event even more special, they provided a Hug Station, to ease the angst of patients and give volunteers support.
The clinic does not get any of their funding from federal, state or local tax dollars. It is in existence through the charitable donations of the public. Although not encouraged to do so, patients donate from time to time, as a grateful gesture for the services that they have been given, which sometimes add to be worth thousands of dollars.
This year’s California CareForce clinic in Indio gave medical service treatment worth nearly $1million to almost 2,000 people, thanks to Goldenvoice and all other associated organizations that assisted in making it happen.
It is absolutely amazing what the people at California CareForce provided to the Coachella Valley, and will continue to provide in the future to us and other communities throughout California. With so many of us hanging in the balance with medical care, their services are needed now more than ever.
For more information, and to register to volunteer visit www.CaliforniaCareForce.org .
