A woman removed the mask covering her mouth and nose. She smiled. She wept. She spoke.
“I was so glad when masks became mandatory because it gave me a way to hide so nobody could see my teeth or that fact I wasn’t smiling or wouldn’t smile,” she said. “I’m not going to hide them anymore. Because I can smile.”
As the woman revealed a beaming grin, so too did others.
She drove six hours from her home on the Pennsylvania-Delaware border to SUNY Jamestown Community College’s Cattaraugus County Campus to receive much needed dental care. Others spent the night in their parked cars to ensure they received similar help. A young mother, holding her baby close in a carrier in the chilly morning, waited in line for hours for an eye exam and a pair of glasses.
clinic held at SUNY JCC on September 11 and 12, 2021
The feel-good stories coming from the Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinic held on September 11 and 12 in Olean, N.Y. were plentiful. The main characters range from those who were helped to the volunteers and donors who made it possible.
“Of the wonderful top 10 things I have experienced in my life, this is in the top 10,” said Paula Snyder, executive director of JCC’s Cattaraugus County Campus and clinic co-coordinator. “And that’s after 42 years of nursing. I’m amazed at what was delivered to people.”
More than 300 uninsured and underserved individuals received medical, dental, and optical care at the two-day clinic put on by RAM, a non-profit organization whose mission is to prevent pain and alleviate suffering by providing free, quality healthcare to those in need. More than 100 COVID-19 vaccinations were also distributed by the Cattaraugus County Health Department at the clinic.
“It was unlike anything I have seen before,” said Daniel DeMarte, JCC’s president. “These were individuals who desperately needed care. It was one of those events that you really had to be there to feel a sense of what it was all about. This clinic is so important.”
How important? DeMarte, who volunteered at the clinic, cited the 2019 New York state health rankings, in which Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties rate near the bottom for health factors that affect physical, mental, and social well-being.
“What should Jamestown Community College be doing in the wellness arena to improve where we are right now?” DeMarte asked. “Because of the pandemic and because of this event, we have set the stage for what comes next. We’re going to open up the conversation on wellness.”
JCC’s Snyder and Jim Mahar, leader of the BonaResponds volunteer group from St. Bonaventure University, played a large role in advocating for an Olean clinic and planning for it. They worked alongside community leaders, healthcare professionals, and volunteers.
Many local organizations, groups, and churches pitched in to provide assistance, donations, and supplies. JCC nursing students, St. Bonaventure University healthcare professional students, Canisius College’s pre-medical program, and University at Buffalo dental students were among 300 volunteers.
“Enormous thank you to donors, volunteers, to the steering committee, to the last person who was helping pick up trash or load up the truck at the end,” Mahar said. “Without everyone, this is just a good idea. If we had this idea and didn’t have donors, it wouldn’t have happened. If we had this idea and didn’t have volunteers, it wouldn’t have happened. If we didn’t have dentists or eye doctors, all of it …. it literally takes a village. I know that saying is overused, but it legitimately does pull this all together.”
Linda Mecca, a JCC employee who worked alongside Snyder in planning the clinic, said volunteers came from as far as San Francisco, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harribsurg, Pa.
“One of the women that I talked to who came from hours away said she was an EMT, and she looks for ways to volunteer on her weekends off to help the community,” Mecca said. “This was the closest one to her that weekend so she came up.”
When clinic staffing was short on Saturday night into Sunday, Dr. Ravi Purushuttam, a doctor new to the Olean area, volunteered to oversee the medical clinic. His wife lended a hand in the dentistry tent.
volunteered at the Remote Area Medical Clinic.
Fohl, director of strategic partnerships at Olean General Hospital, was largely responsible for recruiting healthcare professionals to volunteer at the clinic. She said RAM staff, volunteers, and medical professionals “came together like an orchestra.”
“I just kept thinking that it doesn’t just take a village. It takes a big village,” she added. “You could see the results on all the faces of the people who received the services.”
Dave Kosinski, JCC’s assistant director of buildings and grounds, was there throughout the clinic — from setup to clean up. Both Fohl and Mahar raved about Kosinski’s unsung role in helping make the clinic a success.
“The one person who stands out in my mind is Dave Kosinski, who worked flawlessly with RAM,” Fohl said. “Everything was taken care of.”
Jennifer Visbisky, JCC’s associate professor of nursing, was one of four college faculty members and 41 students to volunteer at the clinic. They helped with triage, assessment intakes, and medical and dental care.
“It was an absolutely amazing experience,” Visbisky said. “The students were able to see what the meaning of true volunteerism is. They were able to really see the diverse health needs of our area population and how impactful it was on the community.”
RAM’s giant semi truck of supplies from the Knoxville, Tenn. area pulled onto the JCC campus on the Friday before the weekend clinic. RAM brought along an administrative team and a core staff of volunteers. During setup, RAM clinic coordinator Poppy Green quizzed each of them on the organization’s mission statement.
“Each paid administrative person and each core volunteer was expected to know the mission,” Snyder said. “That was really impressive. What happened as a result of people living up to that mission statement? All the services lived up to that exactly.”
The interaction that left the greatest impression on Mahar was the one he had with the woman who drove 12 hours round trip to have her teeth worked on.
She told Mahar she had been dealing with depression and other health issues. Her son showed her a RAM documentary video on YouTube, and she was determined to go, even if it meant sleeping in her car. She could afford gas for the trip and time away from home, but she didn’t have the means for large scale dental care.
“When she came, she didn’t know what to expect,” Mahar said. “She was absolutely beyond thrilled. More importantly, she said her faith in the goodness of people was restored. When she got back home, she texted me just to say ‘Hey, I made it home. Thanks again.’
He added: “As I was stressing to everyone who would listen the other day, we’re not treating numbers, we’re treating people,” he said. “Numbers don’t text you back. People do.”
People also fall through the cracks. They might not have insurance, time to take off from work, or enough money for care. At the Olean clinic, they were elderly folks who have been forgotten. A man who couldn’t read the newspaper anymore without better glasses. Even young children needing basic care.
Snyder’s voice cracked when recalling scenes from the weekend.
“I’m a pretty tough nurse. Not much causes me to get a little teary eyed,” Snyder said. “But when I saw children who were the exact ages of my grandchildren and saw their parents there so grateful for care and relieved and joyous to help take care of their children, that brought me almost to my knees. There were times I just couldn’t speak because it was so overwhelming.”