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Amid Noisy Health Care Debate, Free Clinics Struggle to Keep Up

by: Leila Fadel  |  McClatchy Newspapers

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A doctor performs a free eye examination on a woman in Los Angeles. (Photo: AFP)

    Frederick, Maryland - One recent Monday, the line in the Church of the Brethren parking lot began to form at around 2:30 a.m. when a husband and wife arrived. They came almost 8 hours early in the hope of seeing a dentist - for free.

    They soon watched the headlights of other cars as they pulled into the lot. Some would-be patients laid out blankets and sat on the pavement to wait for hours so they'd make the top of the walk-in list to see a doctor or dentist at the Mission of Mercy traveling clinic.

    By the time the clinic, a converted recreational vehicle, opened its doors and the church's multi-purpose room became a waiting room, a nursing station and a dental office with blue dividers and folding chairs, more than 100 people had assembled.

    To read more about the plight of free clinics and the uninsured Americans who need them, click here.

  

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