Bay Clinic has introduced a state-of-the-art Mobile Health Unit. The unit is a large vehicle equipped to provide primary medical and dental care. ADVERTISING Bay Clinic has introduced a state-of-the-art Mobile Health Unit. The unit is a large vehicle equipped
Bay Clinic has introduced a state-of-the-art Mobile Health Unit. The unit is a large vehicle equipped to provide primary medical and dental care.
This unit is the first of its kind in the state and will expand health care access to remote East Hawaii communities. Residents now can receive care right in their neighborhoods. With convenient access to a primary-care physician, patients will be able to manage their health conditions better and reduce the number of emergency room visits.
Aligned with Community First’s mission to create a sustainable medical system that improves quality of care for all the people of our community, Bay Clinic’s Mobile Health Unit will help reduce the high cost of delivering health care by taking health care services directly to these communities on a regular basis.
“In these remote communities, it’s cost prohibitive to build and operate a comprehensive site, considering what it costs to run that type of operation,” said Harold Wallace, Bay Clinic CEO. “The Mobile Health Unit provides us the opportunity to lower that cost while still providing a much-needed service to Ocean View, Mountain View and Volcano Village.”
The unit also will work with the Department of Education’s Ka‘u-Keaau-Pahoa District Complex to provide school-based clinic services for the students of the complex. The unit will provide most of the services available at a stand-alone clinic.
Services will include preventive care, treatment of routine illnesses, urgent care, immunizations and vaccinations, management of chronic diseases, physicals, dental screenings, comprehensive dental exams, dental recalls, dental cleanings and dental pain relief and extractions.
Bay Clinic will maintain all medical record information with the same level of diligence as the free-standing clinics. Those medical records will be meaningfully shared with other health care agencies should there be a need for specialty referrals or higher-level acute in-patient services.
“Again, being aligned with the Community First mission of working to lower overall health cost across East Hawaii, we are taking the Mobile Health Unit to these remote areas,” Wallace said. “We hope that this new service will potentially increase preventive primary-care visits and decrease nonemergency visits to the ER, which will help abate the high cost of health care in our community.”
This new mobile medical unit provides a great value and opportunity for the entire community. What we need to do is figure out how to maximize that value. Imagine a patient living in Pahoa. After a routine visit, her physician decides a follow-up appointment is needed. What if instead of driving to Hilo, she can have the follow-up appointment with the mobile medical unit? It’s a win-win. The patient saves time and money by not traveling as far, while her physician has time to see more patients.
Behavioral health services also are needed throughout East Hawaii. Through “telehealth,” the unit could bring those services to some of the hardest-to-serve areas. Finally, EMS receives a large number of nonemergency 911 calls in remote areas. These calls vary from behavioral health to wound care. Patients have a multitude of reasons for not seeking care earlier, but by bringing medical services to the patient’s neighborhood, we can overcome many of those barriers. Even if the initial service is through EMS, follow-up visits and primary care could be provided by a primary-care physician at the unit.
None of these ideas are automatic or necessarily easy to put in place, but through creative collaboration, our community can maximize the resources available.
The Bay Clinic unit’s permanent schedule is still being decided. To find current rotation information, visit http://bayclinic.org/locations, and click on Mobile Health Unit. If you prefer to call for clinical scheduling, contact Leina Gohier at 965-3003.
Bay Clinic Inc. is a 501(c)(3) federally qualified health center with 180 employees in nine sites. Serving more than 21,000 patients, Bay Clinic is a community-directed health care organization that provides quality primary and preventive care services to the people of East Hawaii. Bay Clinic will ensure that patient-centered, culturally responsive and affordable health care services are locally accessible in our communities. Learn more about Bay Clinic Inc. at www.bayclinic.org.
Tony Kent, MBA, is the community engagement coordinator for Community First. This column was prepared by Community First, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization led by KTA’s Barry Taniguchi, and supported by a volunteer board of local community leaders. Community First was established in 2014 to help the community respond to the health care cost crisis and support initiatives that change health care from just treating disease to caring for health. To learn more about Community First, visit CommunityFirstHawaii.org.
