Posted on Mar 18, 2023
Clinics on wheels bring doctors and dentists to health care deserts
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/17/ [login to see] /clinics-on-wheels-bring-doctors-and-dentists-to-health-care-deserts
Nearly 12 years ago, a nonprofit centered on substance abuse prevention in Lyon County, Nev., broadened its services to dental care.
Leaders with the Healthy Communities Coalition were shocked into action after two of their food pantry volunteers used pliers to pull each other's abscessed teeth. The volunteers saw no other option to relieve their overwhelming pain in the small town where they lived, 40 miles southeast of Reno, because of a dearth of dental care providers.
That drastic act, said Wendy Madson, executive director for the coalition, prompted her organization to use mobile clinics to offer health and dental services in rural communities where there aren't enough patients to support brick-and-mortar offices.
The coalition now sends a van outfitted with dental equipment to county schools to treat hundreds of students per stop a few times each year. They also host events providing free care for adults in the region. The response has been overwhelming.
"Dental is the hot ticket," Madson said. "Everybody wants dental. Availability of those services is what runs out first in those large mobile events."
Nearly 12 years ago, a nonprofit centered on substance abuse prevention in Lyon County, Nev., broadened its services to dental care.
Leaders with the Healthy Communities Coalition were shocked into action after two of their food pantry volunteers used pliers to pull each other's abscessed teeth. The volunteers saw no other option to relieve their overwhelming pain in the small town where they lived, 40 miles southeast of Reno, because of a dearth of dental care providers.
That drastic act, said Wendy Madson, executive director for the coalition, prompted her organization to use mobile clinics to offer health and dental services in rural communities where there aren't enough patients to support brick-and-mortar offices.
The coalition now sends a van outfitted with dental equipment to county schools to treat hundreds of students per stop a few times each year. They also host events providing free care for adults in the region. The response has been overwhelming.
"Dental is the hot ticket," Madson said. "Everybody wants dental. Availability of those services is what runs out first in those large mobile events."
Clinics on wheels bring doctors and dentists to health care deserts
Posted from npr.org
Medical
Health
Posted 1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Freed from brick-and-mortar requirements, health centers can roll out the vans
Once funded, the regulatory shift will allow health centers to collaborate with independent organizations like Madson's Health Communities Coalition in Nevada to expand services in underserved regions. Because the coalition is not a federally qualified health center, it has relied on a mix of other federal and state grants.
Nearly 1,400 federally qualified health centers nationwide receive federal funding for providing comprehensive health services in underserved areas. The previous requirement that health centers establish brick-and-mortar clinics before expanding mobile clinics prevented many from applying, said Steve Messinger, policy director for the Nevada Primary Care Association. It was burdensome and costly for health centers.
But in rural areas with small populations, served well by mobile clinics, it wouldn't make sense to first establish a building with a full-time provider, he said. That could eat up the budget of a federally qualified health center.
While health center advocates lobby Congress for base funding, the Healthy Communities Coalition is forging ahead with three dental events this year funded by a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
At the first medical outreach event the coalition organized in 2012 in Lyon County, where 61,400 residents are spread across more than 2,000 square miles, more than 200 people showed up to receive free care and 150 teeth were pulled, Madson said. Since then, the organization has hosted several events a year — except in 2020, when the pandemic paused work."...
..."Freed from brick-and-mortar requirements, health centers can roll out the vans
Once funded, the regulatory shift will allow health centers to collaborate with independent organizations like Madson's Health Communities Coalition in Nevada to expand services in underserved regions. Because the coalition is not a federally qualified health center, it has relied on a mix of other federal and state grants.
Nearly 1,400 federally qualified health centers nationwide receive federal funding for providing comprehensive health services in underserved areas. The previous requirement that health centers establish brick-and-mortar clinics before expanding mobile clinics prevented many from applying, said Steve Messinger, policy director for the Nevada Primary Care Association. It was burdensome and costly for health centers.
But in rural areas with small populations, served well by mobile clinics, it wouldn't make sense to first establish a building with a full-time provider, he said. That could eat up the budget of a federally qualified health center.
While health center advocates lobby Congress for base funding, the Healthy Communities Coalition is forging ahead with three dental events this year funded by a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
At the first medical outreach event the coalition organized in 2012 in Lyon County, where 61,400 residents are spread across more than 2,000 square miles, more than 200 people showed up to receive free care and 150 teeth were pulled, Madson said. Since then, the organization has hosted several events a year — except in 2020, when the pandemic paused work."...
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel we’ve invested in for profit hospitals. staffing would be a problem. Kansas nurses are already striking and unionizing.
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