Before sunrise, Sheila Phillips, 56, and her 85-year-old mother, Carlean Smith, were among hundreds waiting outside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on Friday morning. They aimed to arrive by 5:45 a.m. to secure a spot around 50th in line but found themselves closer to 200th.
Some attendees had arrived as early as midnight for the Mission of Mercy free vision, dental and hearing clinic, camping out overnight.
“When they put free on anything, you should just expect that, but it really blew my mind,” Ms. Phillips said.
The convention center was hosting the rare opportunity to receive health services completely free. Ms. Smith had been struggling with hearing loss, but getting hearing aids, quoted between $500 and $1,000 each, were simply beyond her means.
By late morning, Ms. Smith was leaving with a pair, barely visible with a single, clear wire wrapped around the top of each ear. Ms. Phillips doesn’t know when her mother would have been able to get hearing aids without the clinic.
“I really like the fact that they give you some options,” she said. “After they fit them on you, they connect it your phone, so you can use them as speakers for your phone. They offer free accessories, like if you need batteries, or if you need them adjusted, they recommended a clinic. It was just a great experience.”
This Friday and Saturday, the clinic is welcoming anyone ages two and up. The two-day affair is expected to welcome 1,500 people, and it takes nearly the same number of volunteers, including dentists, clinicians, opticians, ophthalmologists and nurses, to make the event possible.
There are no income or eligibility requirements, and all services are provided on a first-come, first-served basis until daily capacity is reached.
By 3 p.m. on Friday, the event had already reached its limit, closing its doors to allow clinicians to treat those still waiting. The clinic reopens at 6 a.m. on Saturday.
Tammi Grumski, a nurse practitioner at UPMC, is one of the first people patients encounter. She checks vital signs to ensure people are healthy enough to receive services. She’s had to send numerous people to the emergency room because they didn’t realize how high their blood pressure was.
“Just being in medical triage, we have diagnosed people with hypertension, we've diagnosed them with diabetes,” she said. “I had a lady here today told me she's never had her teeth covered, and she's in her 50s. It’s huge what we can do in two days.”
In a darker corner of the convention center, behind teal curtains, Dr. Evan Waxman, an ophthalmologist at UPMC, was evaluating and diagnosing eye and vision conditions, from macular degeneration to glaucoma. But mostly, people simply need a pair of glasses.
When the clinic first started in 2017, the work didn't seem possible.
“It didn't seem to me that we could do a comprehensive exam for 1,000 people a few days,” he said. “But an incredible number of people in the United States and globally, don't see well simply because they don't have glasses. It’s our duty.”
In the center of the convention center, clusters of dental chairs buzzed with activity. A more private area is set aside for extractions. It’s not unusual for patients to leave with all their teeth extracted due to the severity of their dental conditions, said Rick Celko, chief dental officer at UPMC. People can get fitted for dentures or restore one they already have on site.
“This is one of the best clinics I've ever been involved with, and the people here are just so compassionate,” he said. “You just see the results when somebody says thank you, or they are brought to tears because they’re so grateful. To me, that means that we're doing something right.”
Casey Wherry, 35, said she never felt so good after a dental visit. In February, she began experiencing a toothache. As a veteran, she gets free health care but no dental coverage. She waited out the pain until she could come to Mission of Mercy. Luckily, an x-ray she received showed no need for further treatment beyond a cleaning.
She has periodontal disease, making her gums especially sensitive. Unlike past dental visits, the hygienist applied numbing cream through the cleaning to keep her comfortable.
“I usually pinch my fingers when I’m anxious,” she said. “The hygienist was so attentive, I realized I could actually relax.”
Before leaving, she made sure to take down the clinician’s information to try to schedule another visit in the future.
“With dentists, I find that you get what you pay for, and I have had a better experience here than ones I've paid for,” she said. “I look around, and I'm like, this is incredible.”
First Published: November 1, 2024, 9:07 p.m.
Updated: November 2, 2024, 2:00 a.m.