The Red Bank High School gym bubbled with conversation while a hundred people waited their turn in a dentist's chair Saturday afternoon.
People sat in the bleachers and cheered fellow patients as they were called to one of the dozens of dental stations set up on the basketball court to receive cleanings or fillings, free of charge. Others received free eye exams and glasses, ground on site by a mobile optometrist unit. Some people took advantage of diabetic, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS screenings or women's health exams.
This is just another weekend event for Remote Area Medical, a nongovernmental entity that provides free mobile medical clinics across the county and beyond.
"I had dental insurance, but I couldn't even afford to pay the co-pays," said Crystal Hagis, who came from Soddy-Daisy. "This is a great thing for people who can't afford insurance."
Hagis has attended RAM clinics before and said she waited six months for the Red Bank event to replace a pair of glasses she had lost in an accident. While waiting, she wore a spare pair of her son's, whose prescription "sort of" matched hers, she said.
More than 1,000 patients are expected to be helped by the more than 100 volunteer medical professionals and 100 general support staff at the Red Bank clinic this weekend, according to organizers' estimates.
Patient parking opened at 6 p.m. Friday and traffic coordinators passed out entry tickets around 3 a.m. Saturday. Doors opened a few hours later. From there, patients signed waivers allowing treatment and agreeing to possible media coverage, RAM officials said.
Some patients are repeat clients.
"We've talked to several patients [who said] that this is their primary source of health care," clinic manager Vicki Gregg said. "We have patients who follow our schedules and go from location to location."
She said several people recognized her and hollered, "There's Vicki!" when she walked outside of the school Saturday morning.
Stan Brock, who founded RAM, has identified a wide range of people who come to the free clinics.
"We see single mothers, low-income couples, veterans, children and families, elderly and disabled who come to our clinics to get one of our services because they cannot afford a dental cleaning or a pair of eyeglasses," Brock said. "We want to ensure everyone has access to a healthy life."
While dental needs make up between 80 percent and 85 percent of the services sought by patients, the Red Bank clinic will crank out 300 pairs of glasses over the weekend, Gregg said.
"We really want to expand our medical side, but right now it's just easier for a patient to get a medical issue taken care of with walk-in clinics, health departments and emergency rooms," she said. "But dental and vision - people have to deal with bad teeth."
Dan McWilliams, a disabled veteran from Soddy-Daisy and friend of Hagis, praised the organizers' efficiency and willingness to come from across the country to serve local communities.
"These people have been great," McWilliams said. "They are a blessing."
He said getting care from RAM is much easier than going through the Veterans Affairs Department.
Gloria Torres, who served in the military and drove from Cleveland for vision and dental services, shared similar thoughts.
"It takes a while to get an appointment with the VA," Torres said.
Torres came to the RAM clinic - her first one - at her daughter's urging, she said. Four family members and friends joined her.
She also praised the clinic's efficiency, explaining how the traffic controllers and ticket handlers made it a smooth transition from the parking lot to the exam stations.
All around, the gymnasium buzzed as civilian volunteers, medical personnel and uniformed members of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps hovered with patients and buzzed through the exam stations like bees in a hive.
In a quiet moment in the focused bustle, volunteer Raven Heatherly, a Lincoln Memorial University nurse practitioner student, talked about her experiences and the feedback from her patients. This weekend, she assisted with women's health exams.
"We can't always do everything here," Heatherly said. "So sometimes our biggest job is that we are a resource for information."
That sometimes means directing patients to local clinics and programs intended to help Tennessee's underserved population, she said.
Heatherly said patients often tell her they don't have access to specialty medical services, especially women's' health care, or they can't afford it even if they do.
RAM officials were reluctant to speculate how possible congressional changes to health care laws might affect the people the organization serves.
"I really don't know how to answer that because we try to stay politically neutral," Gregg said. "Would we like to see the need for this to diminish? Yes."
RAM's patient load has stayed constant, even after the Affordable Care Act - known as Obamacare - went into effect, she said.
McWilliams said he was unsure whether the Republican effort to repeal and replacement of Obamacare would help.
"It's either going to help or it's going to hurt," McWilliams said. "Who's to say what it's going to do, but I know I couldn't afford Obamacare."
U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, the Republican congressman for Tennessee's 3rd District - which includes Red Bank and Soddy-Daisy - has offered few firm expectations on how a House health care bill repealing Obamacare might play out.
"It is my fervent hope that a repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act would benefit the vast majority of Americans," Fleischmann said Thursday. He said he didn't know about the RAM clinics, but applauded the organization for its service.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the American Health Care Act passed by House Republicans would result in 23 million fewer people covered by insurance. The Senate is working on its own reform bill.
RAM expects to return to the Chattanooga area by late September, Gregg said.
Contact staff writer Paul Leach at 423-757-6481 or pleach@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @pleach_tfp.