Inglewood, California, August 13: Inside an aging sports arena, where rows of dental chairs and a hospital smell have replaced the former Los Angeles Lakers basketball court, thousands of Americans are seeking free healthcare.
Hundreds were turned away just on Tuesday, the first day of a weeklong clinic run by the nonprofit Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corp as part of its mission to provide free health, dental and eye care in needy spots around the world.
It marks the first time in RAM’s 25 years that it has gone to a major U.S. metropolitan area — a reminder that even in Los Angeles, with world-class doctors and hospitals, many do not have access to affordable healthcare.
RAM is apolitical, but its mobile medical centre has sprung up in the working-class LA suburb of Inglewood against the backdrop of an increasingly bitter public debate over President Barack Obama’s proposed overhaul of the US healthcare system.
–Agencies