Florida Fairground’s free clinic cancelled
A one-off free dental and health clinic planned for next weekend has been called off, according to organisers.
Remote Area Medical was planning to run the two day event at South Florida Fairgrounds in a bid to help people without medical and dental insurance; however, the event has had to be cancelled due to a lack of volunteer dentists.
Steve Kaplan, the man in charge of recruiting staff for the event failed to enlist the help of enough dentists, despite making huge efforts to tempt dentists into getting involved in the clinic. To run efficiently the clinic would have needed around fifty dentists, but Mr Kaplan only managed to get twelve to sign up. He has vowed to try and arrange another clinic in the near future.
The regulations in Florida have been blamed for the staff shortage, as legislation means that dentists from other states cannot be used to work at events in Florida; Remote Area Medical has criticised authorities in the state and expressed their disappointment at the cancellation of the Florida Fairgrounds event. For many patients with dental and health problems, these free clinics are the only opportunity they get to access care, as they don’t have insurance policies and cannot afford to pay for treatment. Organisers are hoping to run the event in the future and will continue to support patients without insurance.
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