Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh offering free dental, vision and hearing care this weekend
For nearly two decades, ophthalmology students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have volunteered their time to provide free eye exams and eyeglasses for people who lack health insurance or face other barriers to receiving vision care.
"It's a very odd thing that even for those who have medical insurance, it doesn't [fully] cover eyeglasses, dental and hearing aids ... things that are essential for people to get by as productive members of society," says Dr. Evan "Jake" Waxman, a professor of ophthalmology at Pitt who heads up the students' mobile clinic, Guerrilla Eye Service .
After Waxman learned about Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh , a two-day event where thousands of at-risk individuals pour into the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, to receive free medical care, he wanted eye services to be included.
"We needed to help," said Waxman, also director of the UPMC Eye Center Mercy.
When Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh holds its 2024 event Nov. 1 and 2, it will mark the fourth year that free vision care is offered along with free dental care and hearing exams.
Last year, more than 750 individuals received prescriptions for free eyeglasses at Mission of Mercy.
A total of 1,702 patients attended the event last year and received free exams, eye glasses, hearing aids and dental services valued at more than $2 million, according to Mission of Mercy data.
All the care was delivered by an all-volunteer staff of more than 1,700 including doctors, dentists, nurses, clinicians and imaging technicians.
"Everybody comes together for one purpose: to help our neighbors and take care of our community," says Dr. Daniel Pituch, a co-founder of Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh and chief of oral and maxillofacial surgery, UPMC Mercy and UPMC Shadyside.
When it launched in 2017, Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh offered only free dental care.
Vision services were added in 2021; free hearing exams and hearing aids were added in 2022.
All services are free for adults and children ages 2 and older; there are no income or other eligibility requirements.
Doors open at 6 a.m. and as in past years, Waxman expects lines to form outside the Convention Center each night before the event.
"It's absolutely ridiculous in this country that people have to stand outside like that," he says. "But we're proud to serve so many people."
The Mission of Mercy initiative was founded in 1994 to provide mobile medical clinics in rural parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland; it later expanded to Arizona and Texas.
Pituch was involved with the statewide dental initiative, which rotated among different Pennsylvania cities each year.
After the first Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh in 2017 generated a strong response, he approached funders and supporters with the idea of holding it here annually.
Michael Zamagias, whose Downtown-based Zamagias Properties invests in real estate and health care technology, was an early contributor and co-founder along with Pituch and Richard Celko, dental director for UPMC Health Plan.
Top sponsors that have contributed $50,000 or more to fund Mission of Mercy are Highmark Foundation, UPMC Health Plan, Oakledge Foundation, TeleTracking, PNC Foundation and PNC Bank.
Volunteers will assemble the temporary clinic on Oct 31.
It will feature 100 dental chairs, a full audiology testing lab, digital X-ray machines and other equipment, says Pituch.
"It takes all day to build," he says. "Then on Saturday night we'll tear it down, package it up and transport it away."
He's "extraordinarily gratified" each year when Mission of Mercy concludes.
"Caregivers get as much out of this if not more than the recipients," says Pituch.
Waxman recalls a 14-year-old boy who accompanied his parents to the clinic so they could receive dental services.
Volunteers noticed his eyeglasses were taped together and though the family wasn't aware the clinic provided eye care, he was fitted with new glasses.
"He and his mom were in tears," says Waxman.
"So much of delivering care in the current medical system is productivity-based and filling out forms," he says. "You get a little cynical, a little tired."
For Mission of Mercy volunteers, he says, "You remember what a career in service is all about: helping people."
This year, the event will feature the Bob Butter Information Booth in honor of Robert Butter, a prominent public relations professional in Pittsburgh who died Oct. 6 at age 68.
Butter had provided media and communications support for Mission of Mercy since 2018. When volunteers at the event last year became overwhelmed with the number of patients, he jumped in to help.
