GE Reports

Our story yesterday about GE’s work with Moffitt Cancer Center underscored one side of GE’s new healthymagination business strategy — using breakthrough technologies to help healthcare providers make dramatic improvements in their operations. Today, we dive into another side of healthymagination — finding innovative ways to increase access to healthcare to underserved populations — this time in the heart of Los Angeles. Remote Area Medical, a group of doctors who began working in developing countries in the 1980s, recently began hitting underserved rural communities in the U.S. Given the current healthcare crisis, RAM — for the first time — began stopping in major U.S. cities to offer its desperately needed range of free services. The group just wrapped up a 9-day event at The Forum, the giant sports complex in Inglewood, California where the Lakers used to play. Starting each day at 5:30 a.m., the doctors and nurses provided free medical, vision, and dental care for the uninsured, underinsured, unemployed, and under-employed — with more than 8,000 patients reportedly treated by the end of the week. In the flip-cam video below, GE Healthcare’s Natasha Bowser describes the work:Our story yesterday about GE’s work with Moffitt Cancer Center underscored one side of GE’s new healthymagination business strategy — using breakthrough technologies to help healthcare providers make dramatic improvements in their operations. Today, we dive into another side of healthymagination — finding innovative ways to increase access to healthcare for underserved populations, this time in the heart of Los Angeles. Remote Area Medical, an airborne relief corps of doctors who first began bringing free care to remote countries in the 1980s, recently began hitting underserved rural communities in the U.S. Given the current healthcare crisis, RAM — for the first time — has begun stopping in major U.S. cities to offer its desperately needed range of free services. The group just wrapped a 9-day event at The Forum, the giant sports arena in Inglewood, California where the Lakers pro basketball team used to play. Starting each day at 5:30 a.m., the doctors and nurses provided free medical, vision, and dental care for the uninsured, underinsured, unemployed, and under-employed — with more than 8,000 patients reportedly treated by the end of the week. In the flip-cam video below, GE Healthcare’s Natasha Bowser describes some of the volunteer work that she and others did at the giant M*A*S*H-style clinic:

GE and NBCU volunteers were on the ground each day at the RAM event — which has the distinction of being the nation’s largest free healthcare clinic. They helped in non-medical support staff roles — and GE Healthcare donated a mobile ultrasound for screening. On the opening day, a sea of people were waiting outside in the dark for the doors to open, some in sleeping bags or wrapped in blankets, others on bleachers that were brought out. By 5 a.m., the 1,500th ticket — the maximum number that doctors could see that that day — had already been given out, leaving about 500 people turned away that morning, according to local press reports. The NBC video below captures just what an impact the free care made on the thousands who lined up to receive help.

David, a volunteer from GE Capital, said of his experience: “I was startled by the dire need for the most basic services such as eye exams, gyn exams and breast exams, and moved by the time that was given by all volunteers, especially the service providers — nurses, dentists, doctors — without whom this event would not have been possible.” Tara, a volunteer from NBC Entertainment, added: “This was a humbling experience for me. It brought tears to my eyes, yet much joy in my heart to see the volunteer medical and non-medical staff work so hard for no monetary compensation.” The video below shot by the LA Times captures some of the patients’ perspectives.

 
According to the L.A. Times, RAM’s mobile units have staged 576 medical clinics over the last 25 years and treated nearly 380,000 patients. Dr. Nancy Greep of Santa Monica, who volunteered her services during the LA event, told the paper that most visitors’ ailments were basic but that “many have chronic diseases — high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma — conditions we can’t deal with in just one day.”

As The Huffington Post said in its story: “There isn’t a more striking symbol of America’s health care crisis than the thousands of people who are lining up this week outside the Los Angeles Forum waiting for treatment.”

* Read “Hundreds lining up for free healthcare checks at Inglewood Forum” in the LA Times
* Read “Free medical clinic at Forum reached full capacity for second day” in the LA Times
* Read The New York Times editorial “Lining up for help”
* Learn about GE’s healthymagination strategy on cost, quality and access
* Read about GE’s work with clinics in India
* Read about GE’s donation of neonatal equipment in the U.K.
* Read GE Reports’ coverage of the healthymagination launch
* Read about GE’s Electronic Medical Records technology
* Read GE Reports’ story about our Health Advisory Board
* Read about healthymagination’s work with electronic medical records
* Read about our healthymagination work in Bangladesh
* Learn more about the partnership with Grameen Healthcare Trust
* Learn about our work in Cambodia
* Read our story about GE’s localized healthcare technology breakthroughs going global
* Read “GE systems boost cancer center case capacity by 900”
* Read “Hey, good looking! GE’s medical designs win 5 awards“