7/12/2010 12:01:00 AM Lawton Constitution
City doctor, staff see clear need and respond
Jacob Russell

JRUSSELL@LAWTON-CONSTITUTION.COM

Lawton optometrist Howard Ross and two of his office assistants, Kali Hoyte and Patty Miller, spent Saturday afternoon at the Oklahoma State Fair Park providing free medical treatment to hundreds of Oklahomans who had little or no insurance.

The event was hosted by Remote Area Medical, or R.A.M. for short. R.A.M. took over the state fairgrounds for three days, setting up a makeshift medical treatment center to provide free dental, vision and medical care to more than 2,000 Oklahomans, according to the R.A.M. website.

Before he left, Ross was still taken aback at his chance to help fellow Oklahomans.

"We are going to provide vision, dental and medical to underinsured people walking around without any glasses or with bad teeth," Ross said, adding that he is "looking forward to getting the experience."

About R.A.M.

R.A.M. was created in 1985 by British-born Stan Brock  to provide air-drop relief to areas of Central and South America.  According to the R.A.M.'s website, Brock's idea was to provide volunteer health care services to struggling people outside of the United States.  In the mid-'90s the mobile medical group began to meet the needs of Americans, begining in Tennessee.  Today, the nonprofit organization does 70 percent of its work within the U.S.

"It shows there is an unmet need," Ross said.  "How it is adjusted is up to us.  This (R.A.M.) is only one piece of the puzzle."

Ross said he has volunteered locally, but never for anything of this magnitude.  He first heard about R.A.M.'s Oklahoma branch through his involvement with the Oklahoma Optometric Association.

"They sent out a letter asking for volunteers," he said.  "I had heard about R.A.M. before and was interested in trying to be a part of it.  It's all new to me, but exciting."

As intent on helping as Ross was, he also had an ulterior motive in wanting to be a part of R.A.M.’s expedition in Oklahoma City.

“It will be the first time I will get the opportunity to work with my son,” Ross said.

Ross’ son, Brandon Ross, is a senior at optometry school in Dallas, Texas. Ross is holding out space at Ross Optical and Hearing Service for his son to move his practice into the family offices upon graduation in 2011 with a Doctor of Optometry degree.  Brandon will be the third generation of the Ross family in eye care.

“I don’t know for sure if he is going to come up here,” Ross said. “But he has a space waiting.”

Photo Information:

Top right photo: (Back) Brandon Ross and Dr. Howard Ross (Front) Kali Hoyte and Patti Miller, stand together at the R.A.M. event in Oklahoma City.

Middle left photo: Kali Hoyte and Patti Miller taking a little break and posing for the camera.

Middle right photo: Dr. Howard Ross performing an examination while at the R.A.M. event in Oklahoma City.

Bottom left photo: Brandon Ross and Dr. Howard Ross standing together after finishing their work for the day.