Photo By Staff Sgt. Alexis Morris | U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Patrick Lafond, 104th Medical Group medical provider, smiles...... read more read more
After returning to the contiguous United States from a work stint at an Alaskan fishery three weeks ago, Reymoundo of Findlay, Ohio, was notified that he had lost his health insurance.
Homeless and living in a different shelter than his wife and their two children, Rey did not anticipate the sudden loss of insurance to have such an immediate effect on his quality of life. Within days of being disenrolled from Medicare, a joint federal and state program that helps cover medical costs for select people with limited income and/or resources, Rey wasn’t able to afford his medication, let alone dental care.
Thus, when he had a sudden onset of sharp tooth pain, Rey turned to a few Facebook community groups to seek free or discounted dental care in his area when someone claiming to be a U.S. service member responded.
The member, who later shared that he participated in an Innovative Readiness Training mission earlier in the year, directed Reymoundo to Operation Healthy Ellwood, a Department of Defense-sponsored healthcare clinic that provided no-cost medical, dental, vision, behavioral health and veterinary services to anyone residing in, or willing to travel to, Ellwood City, Pennsylvania.
“I woke up at midnight and drove five hours to be here,” said Reymoundo.
After checking in on the last day of clinic operations, the dental services team, composed of U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Romecca Martin, 4th Dental Battalion dental technician, U.S. Air Force Maj. Michael Clay, 44th Aerospace Medical Flight dentist, and U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Patrick Lafond, 104th Medical Group medical provider, quickly diagnosed the issue – a cracked tooth – and attempted to provide immediate relief in the form of an extraction.
Directly after the procedure, and with his mouth full of gauze, Reymoundo shared that he “couldn’t be happier” with the services he received. “This is the only care I needed today but it was worth the drive and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone in a similar position.”
The Innovative Readiness Training program is a DOD initiative that serves American communities in need while providing realistic military training benefits. There are currently five types of IRT missions: medical, civil engineering, cybersecurity, transportation and aerial spray.
“To have a man drive six hours to come here says a lot about the desperate need and disparity of dental care in our communities,” said Clay, who conducted the extraction. “I am so thankful that we were able to help Rey out today, and that by serving on these missions, I’m able to play a little, itty bitty piece in something that’s really big.”
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.01.2025 14:42 |
| Story ID: | 544551 |
| Location: | ELLWOOD CITY, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 257 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Operation Healthy Ellwood provides relief for one Ohio family, by SSgt Alexis Morris, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
