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With the end of 2024 approaching we are excited to look forward to 2025 and all it will bring. We will continue to bring free healthcare to communities around the U.S. We will also be celebrating our 40th anniversary in 2025! Here is 2024 at Remote Area Medical, at a glance:
Remote Area Medical — RAM® has been providing free dental, vision, and medical care to those in need since 1985. For 40 years we have had one mission: to prevent pain and alleviate suffering by providing free, quality healthcare to those in need. RAM is “Celebrating 40 years of health, hope, and humanity.”
At a Glance: 2024 was a big year for RAM —
In 2024, we brought free dental, vision, and medical care to 35,989 patients, with a value of care worth $14,843,979. This would not have been possible without the support from our more than 16,288 volunteers. Their dedication and hard work, along with your support, is what allows us to continue providing care to individuals who would not otherwise receive the medical care they need.
From Alaska to Massachusetts, RAM hosted clinics in 24 states, driving 232,830 miles. That is the equivalent of driving the circumference of Earth 9.35 times. Or driving 97.5% of the way to the Moon!
RAM hosted nearly 300 events this year. This includes pop-up clinics, telehealth clinics, flu shot clinics, denture clinics and mobile dental clinics with Haleon and Walmart. This year we celebrated our 1,400th expedition in Hazard, Kentucky serving 270 patients and providing
Growing to Serve More Patients —
We accomplished a lot in 2024. We added three new mobile units to our fleet, allowing us to bring care to more patients around the country. With support from our generous donors, we acquired two mobile telehealth units.
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The telehealth units feature two exam rooms, Starlink internet, and an onboard generator, making them powerful tools for bringing access to care across the state of Tennessee. Between the mobile telehealth units and our at home telehealth program, this year RAM served our 1,000th telehealth patient. Our telehealth team could be found serving patients at Steps House, Knoxville Area Rescue Mission (KARM), CareCuts, and many other locations across the state — click here to see our telehealth schedule for 2025.
We also debuted our Mobile Digital Denture Lab, the first of its kind! This innovative lab on wheels allows RAM to create custom, 3D-printed dentures in just a matter of hours. For a video tour of the Mobile Digital Denture Lab be sure to watch our short YouTube video.
Honoring Our Founder, Stan Brock —
On October 15, 2024, Stan Brock was posthumously inducted into the Tennessee Healthcare Hall of Fame. Each year the Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have made a significant impact on healthcare and the healthcare industry. Brock’s dedication to RAM and to bringing free dental, vision, and medical care to anyone in need were celebrated at the induction ceremony with the award being presented by RAM CEO, Jeff Eastman, to John Myers, President of RAM’s Board of Directors, as a representative for Stan Brock. Click here to read more about this incredible achievement.
2024 also brought the streaming release of two documentaries focused on sharing RAM’s mission. Medicine Man: The Stan Brock Story is now available to watch free on various streaming platforms. This documentary shows Stan Brock throughout his lifetime, documenting his experiences leading to the founding of RAM in 1985 and gives an in-depth look into RAM Clinics.
The documentary Remote Area Medical is also streaming for free on Tubi. This documentary follows patients throughout a three-day clinic in Bristol, Tennessee, from the parking lot, to getting teeth pulled, seeing a doctor for the first time since childhood, to showing their lives after the clinic. This documentary serves as a reminder of why RAM exists and how the services we provide make an impact on patient’s lives.
RAM Volunteers Recognized —
This year, long-time volunteer and member of the RAM Board of Directors, Lieutenant Colonel Dick Stoops, retired from the board. Lieutenant Colonel Stoops has been a supporter of RAM since the beginning, joining Stan and other volunteers on international expeditions, in Guyana, Haiti, and Mexico. Stoops has served on the board since 2013. In 2017 he received the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Endeavor Award for his volunteer work with Remote Area Medical. We are so grateful for Lieutenant Colonel Stoops’ support of RAM throughout the years and wish him well in his retirement!
RAM also acknowledged the retirement of Dr. Paul and Sheila Wittke earlier this year. Since 1992, just months after RAM’s first expedition, the Wittkes have been volunteering with RAM. They have traveled to Mexico, Guyana, India, Honduras, and across the U.S. providing medical care to those in need. On August 7, 2024, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs joined RAM at Headquarters to honor Dr. and Mrs. Wittke in publicly recognizing the couple for their years of service and dedication, deeming the day “Wittke Wednesday.”
RAM also celebrated CORE Volunteers Julie and Holly at a clinic in Emporia, Virginia. Julie celebrated her 50th clinic volunteering with RAM, she began volunteering with RAM in 2019. Holly has volunteered with RAM since 2020 and celebrated her 30th clinic serving patients on the dental floor.
Enjoyed “At a Glance: 2024 at Remote Area Medical?” Keep Up with RAM in 2025 —
None of this would have been possible without you! RAM is funded almost exclusively through generous private donors. If you would like to donate, or even become a monthly donor to make your impact go further, please click here to donate!
For an inside look at patient and volunteer stories, photos from clinics this year, and much more, be sure to read the latest edition of RAM’s magazine. This biannual magazine is a great way to keep up with the work we are doing here at RAM and learn more about the impact we are making on communities across the U.S.
To continue supporting RAM as we enter 2025, we encourage you to follow us on social media to keep up with all the excitement 2025 brings.
We would love to see you at one of our upcoming free clinics. Whether you are a patient or a volunteer, we hope to see you there!
If you enjoyed this blog post, check out the rest of our posts. We add more weekly, don’t miss this exclusive content.
Check out our magazine at www.ramusa.org/#magazine.
Speaking of “at a glance,” have you taken a glance at our upcoming clinic schedule to see where we’ll be next? If you know anyone who may be in need of RAM’s services at one of our free clinics, please share our schedule so they can find a free clinic near them!
Thank you for your continued support of RAM and our mission. Thank you for reading “At a Glance: 2024 at Remote Area Medical!” We look forward to celebrating our 40th anniversary with you in 2025. As we continue to provide free dental, vision, and medical care across the country.
