A free, pop-up health clinic is coming to Terre Haute in a few weeks and will be able to serve hundreds of community members. 

Remote Area Medical, founded in 1985, is an organization that initially aimed to provide medical assistance to those in remote areas in developing countries. Now, its services have expanded to hundreds of locations across the United States, with over a million patients served.  

Brad Sands, clinic coordinator with Remote Area Medical, said the organization aims to fill a gap in healthcare, especially in rural areas, and make it more accessible and affordable.

Terre Haute, like many other areas in the state, faces a shortage of health providers and high costs. 

Those who attend the clinics can get free dental, vision and medical care from volunteer providers who come from within and outside the state. 

“It's expensive to have glasses, it's expensive to get a tooth pulled,” Sands said. “Some people are on fixed incomes, and maybe it's a choice between paying the rent that month or getting their glasses made to where they can see, and those are things that are detrimental to being able to go and work if you can't see while you're working, or maybe you're in such a large amount of pain due to a tooth that you can't focus at work, and it can make that a little bit harder on you. So, we're there to bridge that gap and help those folks that need it.” 

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Sands said the clinic will be able to serve hundreds of patients over the course of a weekend. No ID, insurance or income documentation is needed. 

“You don't even have to give me your real name; you come up and tell me your name's Mickey Mouse. And I'm going to bring you in, and I'm just going to ask where it hurts and we're going to take care of you,” he said. 

“In dental, we'll be doing extractions, fillings, and cleanings. And medical will have some general physicals going on and some women's health and (we’ll) be writing prescriptions and we'll also be making glasses on site for some folks.”

The pop-up clinic will take place on Saturday, July 25 and Sunday, July 26. Patients are seen on a first-come, first-served basis. People will wait in their cars in the parking lot of Terre Haute South’s High School and be seen from there. Sands recommends people bring water, snacks, medicines they take and blankets, and be prepared to wait.