By Brit McCandless Farmer
April 5, 2026 / 7:00 PM EDT / CBS News
Each weekend across the United States, thousands line up before dawn for free medical care at pop-up clinics, but a patchwork of state laws is preventing volunteer doctors from helping as many people as they could. Despite those constraints, Remote Area Medical (RAM) makes life-changing differences each week.
At a recent clinic, Dave Burge raised a hand-held mirror and smiled. His teeth had been knocked out twice — first in a head-on crash caused by a drunk driver, then again when a recoil from a drill struck his mouth on a construction job. Seated in a dental chair, Burge saw his new set of dentures for the first time, fitted by RAM volunteers. “It’s amazing,” he said. Moments later: “That gave me my life back.”
Burge is one of thousands served by RAM, a volunteer-run charity providing free medical, dental, and vision care to underserved communities across the country. About half of RAM’s patients have no insurance; the rest have coverage they can’t afford to use because of co-pays and deductibles.
RAM was founded in the 1980s by Stan Brock, an English-born adventurer who first aimed to bring care to remote parts of South America but soon recognized a similar need in the U.S. The group shifted focus to domestic pop-up clinics that operate on a simple principle: treat anyone who shows up, no questions asked.
RAM’s work grew after a 2008 CBS report by Scott Pelley, which generated about $4 million in donations and thousands of volunteer sign-ups. Where RAM once ran roughly a dozen clinics a year, it now hosts about 90 annually. At a recent Knoxville event, RAM treated 1,200 patients, with long lines forming before dawn for dental work, eye exams, and basic medical care.
But RAM’s reach is limited by red tape. A major obstacle is the patchwork of state licensing laws that often prevent doctors and dentists from crossing state lines to volunteer unless they hold a local license, even for short-term charitable work. Brock helped inspire Tennessee’s Volunteer Health Care Services Act of 1995, which allows out-of-state clinicians to volunteer in that state; several other states have similar policies, but many restrictions remain.
Today RAM is led by CEO Chris Hall, who says licensing limits continue to hinder the organization’s ability to serve more people. “Medical providers train for years all across state lines,” Hall explained. “But when it comes to licensing, they get licensed in one state. And there’s red tape that prevents them from crossing state lines to provide free care.”
Volunteers travel from across the country to staff clinics. Dentist Glen Goldstein, who came from New Jersey to Tennessee, said it’s frustrating that he can’t volunteer in nearby states because of licensing barriers. “What I do in New Jersey is the same thing I do in Tennessee or California,” he said. “There are doctors willing to give their time, and they’re restricted by a state license.”
Goldstein and others advocate for federal legislation to let medical professionals volunteer across all 50 states, modeled on international humanitarian efforts like Doctors Without Borders. Hall says easing regulations would both expand access to care — he notes RAM sees nearly three times as many patients in Tennessee as in some more restrictive states — and reduce the administrative burden of organizing clinics.
For now, the need for RAM’s clinics remains urgent and growing. Brock once told Pelley he hoped RAM would “work itself out of a job.” Nearly two decades later, that goal feels distant. Still, for patients like Sandra Tallent, who drove 200 miles and slept in her car to attend a clinic and was fitted for dentures, the clinics are life-changing. After seeing her new smile, she said simply, “I’m just really thankful. I don’t know what I’d do… I feel like He has made a way through RAM.”