The Teniente family doesn't have health insurance and are among the thousands of people here at the C.A.R.E. Clinic.
Last time Lizette Teniente went to the eye doctor was four years ago. "Well we don't have the money to go to the doctor and get my vision checked," Teniente said.
Her case is common in our area. Right here in the Metroplex there are just under a million people who are uninsured:
Dallas: 389,014
Fort Worth: 177,427
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Arlington: 88,043
Garland: 66,346
Irving: 62,433
Grand Prairie: 46,831
Plano: 43,368
Mesquite: 32,644
"The people we're seeing today are hard-working Americans,” Dr. Bobby Kapur, a professor with the Baylor College of Medicine said. “These are people who have two part-time jobs or they have hourly wages or simply they don't have jobs that allow them to get health insurance."
This is why the National Association of Free and Charitable clinics held Saturday’s event at the Dallas convention center.
"It really does help for people who are working it's hard for them to get insurance and everything," Collette Polk, a patient said.
The event offered everything free, from routine check-ups, blood tests, EKG exams to eye glasses.
"It gives these people the opportunity to see a doctor get the test that they need, get the care that they need," Nicole Lamoureux, the clinic director said.
Saturday’s clinic session did not stop with the routine check-up. If a patient needed a prescription, they were able to get a three-month supply as well as a referral and a follow-up.
