Los Angeles free clinic stunned by demand
Staff working at a free seven-day dental and health clinic have been overwhelmed by the amount of people seeking their help. Volunteers at the event have been forced to ask some patients to return next week, after running out of time on the first day.
The seven-day free dental and health clinic will be running for the next six days at the Los Angeles Sports Arena; on Sunday night, thousands of people queued to get appointments for the clinic, which opened yesterday. All the appointments were allocated for both Tuesday and Wednesday and hundreds were told to come back and queue for slots on other days.
Yesterday, the lucky people that were allocated an appointment came back to the arena to see volunteer dentists, doctors and nurses; over 1,100 patients received free care, but staff ran out of time and the demand was simply too high for them to cope; over 100 patients were told to come back next week.
Volunteers working at the event say the demand for both medical and dental care has increased significantly since the last event of this kind, which was held last August. According to Roger Fieldman, a local dentist, over 3 million people were left without insurance following State budget cuts last summer; consequently, they cannot afford treatment and are forced to wait for free events and clinics to receive the care they need.
The clinic is aiming to treat around 1,200 patients each day and will run from 6am to 6pm until next Monday. The turnout is a source of great concern for health experts and government ministers; thousands of people are queuing for hours for care and this is only the tip of the iceberg, millions more are in a similar situation and may not be lucky enough to get the treatment they need.
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