EMPORIA—The Shriners Hospitals for Children are known for providing children with free pediatric specialty care. Local children will have a chance to be screened for services at an event later this month in Emporia.

“We’ve treated over 950,000 children and never issued a bill,” said Bill Brockwell of the ACCA Temple Shrine Center in Richmond. ACCA Shrine International and the Widow’s Son Masonic Lodge No. 150 in Emporia are sponsoring the free screening clinic on Saturday, Oct. 30.

A doctor will screen children under 18 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Main Street Baptist Church in Emporia to see if they are eligible to receive services at a Shriners hospital for orthopedic conditions, spinal cord injuries, cleft lip palate or burns.

Brockwell said the hospitals have three main goals: taking care of children, training doctors and providing medical research. He said no family is ever turned away if their child qualifies for care at a Shriners hospital.

“The family is not going to have to pay anything,” Brockwell said. “They’re never going to be turned away for not having money or insurance.”

The Shriners Hospitals for Children operate 22 different facilities and receive no government funding.

For more information about the upcoming screening, contact Steve Bolton at 434-634-5958 or Wayne Fajna at 434-634-4345.