Clinic Offers Health in the Rain

Huddled under blue tents in Sunday’s downpour, more than 600 people showed up in Garden Grove for free medical, dental and social services from a Buddhist nonprofit organization.

In the Buena-Clinton neighborhood south of Westminster Avenue, the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi Foundation had gathered more than 20 doctors, including dentists and acupuncturists. Services included mammograms, pap smears and diabetes exams.

Examinations were held in soggy tents set up in a closed-off street and at a property management company, Golden Remco, which donated the space.

Lucy Angeles of Garden Grove sat with her 4-year-old son, Adrian, and her husband, Valentin, waiting to see if they could get a prescription or if doctors thought they had a virus.

The family cannot afford insurance, Lucy Angeles said, but all of them have been ill and her husband has high blood pressure.

In addition to the doctors, the organization rounded up more than 150 volunteers for the clinic. The helpers took turns administering tests for cholesterol, vision and blood pressure, giving free haircuts and passing out hot tea to the chilled participants.

“If they have a cavity, we’ll fix it,” said Dr. Shirley Chen, a dentist from Arcadia who is a member of the Tzu-Chi organization and volunteered her time. “If they need an extraction, we’ll do it.”

The Tzu-Chi organization, which started its free clinics in November 1993, recently spent more than $250,000 transforming a 35-foot bus into the “Great Love Mobile Clinic,” a dentist’s office with two exam chairs, X-ray machines and cupboards full of equipment and supplies.

Chen said she saw many patients whose teeth were in very bad shape. She filled dozens of cavities.

“There are a lot of people here who haven’t even had their teeth cleaned for over 10 years,” said Chen, strapping a bib onto an elderly man who came for a cleaning.

The Tzu-Chi Foundation, based in Taiwan, has an office in Northridge and maintains a clinic in Alhambra. The group holds about 25 free clinics a year in Southern California. The foundation also assists in international emergencies; it has sent supplies to earthquake victims in Taiwan and Turkey.

Doctors and volunteers said helping people without health insurance made it worth the long drives and working under the relentless rain.

“There are a lot of people in need in this area,” said Blanca Peterson of Garden Grove, who was volunteering her time as a Spanish translator. “Many people don’t have extra resources and they don’t have insurance. This is a beautiful service these doctors are providing.”

Dr. Eugene Taw of Montebello is an ear, nose and throat specialist who has worked in the free clinics for almost five years. At previous clinics, he said, he has seen many serious maladies that had gone untreated, such as huge neck tumors or objects lodged in ears. There were no such problems Sunday.

Hoa Ly, 59, of Garden Grove came to the clinic because her knee had been bothering her. She preferred acupuncture to traditional medicine and ended up sitting with her left pant-leg hiked up and seven silver needles inserted in her leg.

Children waiting for their parents played with clay and colored markers. One tent housed a makeshift pharmacy where patients could get prescriptions filled. Packages of household goods and cleaners were also distributed to parents.

Chen said that although she was volunteering her time as a Buddhist and a member of the Tzu-Chi organization, proselytizing wasn’t part of the day.

“We don’t talk to patients about our religion,” she said. “Our mission isn’t conversion. This is our mission, right here, to help people in need.”