Traveling health clinics have recently sprouted up across the country to offer basic medical services, like dental work, eyeglass fittings and check-ups, to the under or uninsured. On Saturday, the Bridgehampton School hosted the “Community Healthy Fair,” a scaled down version of these roaming clinics.
At the second annual health fair, practitioners and health organizations offered a number of free services. The Suffolk County Department of Health provided complimentary flu shots for children and parents with children under the ages of six months. Southampton Hospital facilitated cholesterol and glucose tests. A pediatric dentist and orthodontist volunteered their services for dental exams. Heavy rains kept many families at home, but several who attended the event were in need of the gratis services.
Above: A local woman gets her glucose and cholesterol levels check by a Southampton Hospital health care worker.
East Hampton resident Blanca Astudinno made the trip to the fair so her two young daughters, ages eight and two, could receive flu shots. Astudinno is currently pregnant and receives medical insurance through Medicaid. When her baby is born, however, Astudinno worries about losing her insurance.
“Right now there isn’t that much work and I can’t spend a lot on insurance,” said Astudinno. With flu season coming up, she is also concerned about paying her children’s medical bills if they get sick.
“At some places, if you don’t pay up front they won’t see you … and then you pay separate for medications,” she noted.
Pediatric dentist Dr. Beth Rosner saw several families who are foregoing dental work. One woman Rosner examined started a root canal five years ago but didn’t have the funds to finish the work.
“Now, a lot of people [who have let work go] fear what it will entail. They are afraid of affording whatever needed to be done,” explained Rosner. “If they are in pain they come in … they are doing what they have to do.”
For people who cannot afford dental services, Rosner refers them to clinics in Riverhead and Stony Brook that offer sliding scale payment schedules.
However, nurse practitioner Janet Calabrese noted that the need for complimentary health services is more apparent further up the island. By the end of the day, Calabrese immunized or administered a flu shot for almost 15 children. In places like Hauppauge and Brentwood, Calabrese will see almost 60 to 70 patients in one day.
“We don’t like to see anyone go without care,” remarked Dr. Amir Emami with Southampton Hospital, adding that the hospital must see any emergency patient whether or not they have insurance. “Obviously, prevention is the solution.”
Ninfa Boyd is a bilingual aid at the school and said she believes there is a need for traveling health clinics in the community.
“A lot of people’s insurance have been dropped … There is definitely a need and not just with the migrant population,” said Boyd, whose family members also attended the event to receive flu shots and immunizations. “Even just the routine stuff is very expensive.”
The school nurse Elizabeth Alves organized the event. Hoping to cover all the bases, she invited practitioners in the mental and physical health care fields. Alves hopes the fair will flourish into a clinic based in the school. She added that if a clinic was set-up in the school, kids wouldn’t have to travel to see a doctor and would be able to receive their medication in the same place.
“Health is wealth, but not everyone can afford it,” noted Alves.
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