Each year for the span of four days, KeyArena turns into one massive clinic, serving over 4,000 people and providing over $3.5 million of health care.
The Seattle/King County Clinic just finished its fourth year of operation. Between Oct. 26-29, patients could receive health care for a variety of needs for no cost.
While King County has been able to increase the number of people who have health insurance due to the Affordable Care Act, there are many who remain uninsured or the coverage they do have falls short of what they need. Last year, 32 percent reported that they had insurance but couldn’t afford or access health care.
One particular example of this is dental care. Under the Affordable Care Act, dental care is not considered an essential health benefit for adults. That means insurers don’t have to offer adult dental coverage.
Dental director Dr. Jeff Parrish explains that this is one of the reasons why the health clinic is so important. As of 2017, Dental Medicaid pays private practices only 25 cents on the dollar for providing care to adults on Medicaid.
Parrish explains that while most dentists at these private practices would like to serve everyone, they simply can’t afford to. It’s also one of the reasons why Parrish feels why there are so many medical professionals who eagerly volunteer for the clinic.
Parrish was recruited to head the dental side of things in the clinic’s first year and had some difficulty finding others to work the clinic. Now, Parrish doesn’t have to advertise, he has people asking him to volunteer. So many, in fact, that he has a waiting list.
The UW has a big presence at the clinic. All of the dental directors are UW alumni and both medical directors currently work at UW Medicine. Dental students from the UW can also be seen each year volunteering for the clinic in addition to students from the School of Public Health at the UW.
At the clinic, patients must choose whether they want a dental exam or vision exam in addition to their general medical exam. However, patients may come back on another day to receive the exam they didn’t receive on their first visit.
Dental care continues to be a highly sought after service. Parrish explains that dental care is essential to a person’s overall health.
Deborah Daoust, the media director for the event, recalls how they had a patient this year come in to get a crown. The patient needed knee replacement surgery but couldn’t get it until they had a crown put in because of the risk of bacteria that could infect their body through their mouth.
One of the goals of the clinic and something that Parrish emphasized was that the clinic acts as a way to help people get into the health care system and navigate it.
Many of the patients do not speak English or it’s their second language. Last year, a total of 34 different languages were reported as being primary languages for patients.
During the four days, the clinic had volunteer translators on hand in addition to virtual translators provided by InDemand Interpreting services for languages that did not have onsite translators.
The clinic’s general medical services are holistic. The private suites of KeyArena are turned into exam rooms and rooms where patients can get X-rays, physical therapy, acupuncture, immunizations, and mammograms, to name just a few.
“We hope to get a few people out of pain and hopefully into the system,” Parrish said.
Community health centers were present to advise patients on any further care they needed. Parrish emphasized that the number of patients they see over the four days is just the tip of the iceberg.
For the 3,947 volunteers, the clinic is a rewarding experience. 418 of the volunteers are medical professionals donating their services and time. Daoust estimates that nearly all the directors for the clinic have done the clinic all four years.
Primary care director Dr. Rick Arnold summed up a common sentiment among health care professionals, saying, “It’s a great thing, but it’s also a problem we have to have this.”
Reach reporter Grace Madigan at news@dailyuw.com. Twitter: grace_madigan19
