Story by North American Division Communication Staff
On the heels of its largest mega clinic to date held in Los Angeles, California, Your Best Pathway to Health is launching its first east coast clinic on July 13-15, 2016, with training to be held following the clinic. The clinic is being organized in Beckley, West Virginia, a smaller city that serves as the healthcare hub for nine surrounding counties.
Pathway to Health is a humanitarian service of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which provides comprehensive free healthcare services to communities around North America, in partnership with dozens of organizations and ministries.
“We continue to be grateful for the partnerships that so far have allowed Pathway to Health to serve more than 20,000 patients in five cities with more than $77 million in free services,” says Lela Lewis, Pathway to Health president. Among those partners is the North American Division (NAD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which has participated in all previous mega clinics.
“We are excited about our continued partnership with Pathway to Health, which gives us yet one more way to bring health and healing to our communities,” explains Angie David, health director for the NAD.
As in every previous city, Pathway to Health encourages as many people to volunteer as possible. “There is a direct relationship between the number of volunteers and the number of patients that can receive services during the three-day clinic,” explains Cheryl Lindeman, who manages Pathway’s information phone line.
Pathway Beckley is currently in need of more medical and dental professionals, including 30 dentists, 10 dental hygienists, eight optometrists, and 40 physicians. Medical specialties will include cardiology, general surgery, gynecologic surgery, physical therapy, radiology and infectious disease.
In addition to the fact that Beckley offers East Coast residents their first chance to volunteer closer to home, of significance is the training being offered at the West Virginia event. Organizers are offering all attending volunteers educational components that will allow local communities to organize smaller Pathway to Health events around the country. Training will be provided on Sunday, following the clinic. “We encourage anyone interested in organizing a community-based Pathway to Health clinic to volunteer in Beckley, and to attend the training provided,” says Ken Denslow, assistant to the president in the NAD.
Those interested in participating in the free training, as well as volunteering for Pathway Beckley are asked to register for the event at PathwayToHealthVolunteer.org. For additional information please email info@ybpth.org.