$30M in free health services to be offered to uninsured Phoenix residents
Dec 22, 2017, 1:05 PM
(Flickr photo)
(Flickr photo)
PHOENIX — More than $30 million in free medical and dental services will be offered at the Phoenix Convention Center next week.
The three-day event will be organized by Your Best Pathway to Health, a humanitarian service of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This is the eighth event of its kind that the group has held nationwide.
More than 3,300 healthcare professionals and volunteers from around the world will be providing the services to non-insured and under-insured Valley residents.
Lela Lewis, a local doctor and the group’s founder and CEO, said the group expects to treat as many as 8,000 people who are in need of everything from routine screenings to surgery.
Related: This Phoenix health clinic is a lifeline for the uninsured
“People may have insurance but can’t afford to pay the deductibles and co-pays and they’re missing out on vital necessities,” Lewis said.
Among the many free on-site services that will be offered include primary care visits, women’s health services like pap smears and mammography, general and orthopedic surgery, pediatrics, root canals, eyeglass fittings and examinations.
Attorney services, financial counseling and a free meal will also be offered.
“This is the highest experience of my life,” Lewis said. “When I see those patients lined up outside all I want to do is race inside and get one more patient in.”
Services will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Appointments are not necessary, except for major surgical procedures, which require pre-surgery visits. No insurance or identification are required.
The free clinic will from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 25 and 26 and from 7 a.m. to noon on Dec. 27.
