A clinic providing free treatment to local residents in need of health care is coming to the Jackson Purchase area next week. The U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Military’s reserve forces have partnered with the Delta Regional Authority for a ‘Bluegrass Medical Innovative Readiness Training,’ a clinic providing medical, dental and optical care to residents without insurance.
Mary Anne Medlock of the Purchase Area Development District says the last clinic was in 2013 with nearly 1,000 receiving treatment. She says clinics have a positive impact on residents’ health.
“Anytime you can have access to no cost health care or no cost optometry or dentistry needs then you are providing an opportunity for someone to get care that they need. It may be something that is keeping them from work, it could be something that is impending or creating issues within their family life,” says Medlock.
Major Amy Mundell is overseeing the clinic. She says the objective is for military personnel to prepare for conflict and crisis response while leaving a lasting positive impact on the population’s health and well-being.
“IRT missions allow us to offer something to the community as well as conduct training, so it’s very much a win-win for the military and the community,” says Mundell.
Federal Co-Chairman of the Delta Regional Authority, Chris Massingill says the mission is to make the community healthier considering the region has some of the highest rates of diabetes, deaths from circulatory diseases, and hypertension.
Carlisle County High School, Graves County High School and Paducah Tilghman High School host the clinics from July 18 to July 27.
Click here for official IRT clinic dates and times.
