Scott Swanson
Sweet Home residents who struggle to get medical care may soon have a new option, right here in town.
Starting Tuesday, Feb. 11, Samaritan Health’s SamCare Mobile Medicine, a health clinic housed in a 40-foot vehicle, will make twice-monthly stops in Sweet Home to offer health care for adults and children.
The van will be parked at the Sweet Home United Methodist Church, 845 Sixth Ave., from 2 to 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month.
Bob Dalton, a member of the city’s Healthcare Committee, noted that the church hosts Manna Meals on those days. The free dinners start at 5 p.m.
Dalton, who also chairs Sweet Home’s late-summer Health Fair, said he’s been interested for some time in getting an “outreach program” to serve those without access to medical care. Samaritan actually approached Dalton three months ago about bringing the van to town, he said. They’ve been generous, he said.
“I was thinking it could be here for a couple of hours a month. They offered four. Originally, our goal was to have it once a month. Samaritan offered twice a month.”
Operating as a walk-in clinic and treating people on a first-come, first-served basis, the mobile clinic is staffed by Samaritan health care providers and can offer patients much of what they would find in a standard brick-and-mortar clinic.
“The typical staff would be Samaritan clinicians,” said Tricia Schug, business development coordinator for SamCare Mobile Medicine. She said Family Nurse Practitioner Sam Beasley and a registered nurse are regular staffers.
The Mobile Medicine bus program was launched by Samaritan in 2018 with a donation from the Pastega Foundation. Schug joined the program recently and has been working to develop it, she said.
“We have a pretty full schedule at the moment. We’re excited about it. We’re able to reach more people with healthcare.”
In addition to the Sweet Home stop, the van also makes visits to the Boys & Girls Club in Albany, Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Albany Options School, the Corvallis School District offices, and the Corvallis Cold-Weather Men’s Shelter.
“We’ve been receiving good response,” Schug said, adding that the “main stop” this winter has been weekly visits to the Corvallis cold weather shelter. “Those folks have been really appreciative of the clinic.”
Patients who are insured should bring their insurance card, but no one will be turned away because of inability to pay, according to a Samaritan announcement.
Patients can be seen for illnesses such as earache, minor infections, flu-like symptoms, sprains or strains, small cuts or abrasions, minor burns, mild asthma, urinary tract infections, mental health screenings and other concerns. Patients can also receive vaccinations or be seen for a routine check-up. The mobile clinic does not offer X-rays. It has a wheelchair lift.
The purpose behind the clinic, a converted 40-foot motorhome outfitted with two exam rooms and a check-in area, is that “a lot of people in our three-county area can’t, for whatever reason, make it to a clinic,” Schug said. ” So we brought the bus in to try to reach some of those people as much as we can. We feel it’s important for everybody to get healthcare.
“There’s a level of need in Sweet Home that made it an area we felt was a priority for us.”
She said she and Dalton started talking about bringing the mobile clinic to the community as they prepared for last summer’s Health Fair.
The van was on-site at the Health Fair last summer.
“At that time they just did blood pressure checks,” Dalton said.
Schug said patients who use the mobile clinic usually have difficulty getting to a regular clinic frequently, or they “don’t like the idea of going to a “regular kind of clinic.”
“The bus is a little more welcoming to those who have phobias about going to a regular clinic,” she said.
Schug said Dalton suggested linking the visits with Manna Meals.
“We really focused our efforts on people who might not normally go see a doctor,” Dalton said. “This is geared toward people, especially low-income families, who don’t have a lot of money.
“The reason the mobile van works is it gives people access to basic medical services they might not normally have access to,” he added. “Instead of people having to go out of town, the van comes to us. This is a big one.
Patients can get care by “simply showing up and walking through the door,” he said.
The goal, Schug said, “is to go places where people gather, so we don’t have to try to get them to come to us.”
She and Dalton said “the next step” is to include mental health services as well as physical healthcare, a possibility that is being discussed.
“It’s not quite up and running yet, but the goal is to partner with (Linn) County Public Health to do mental health outreach.” There are “no solid details” yet, she said.
While walk-ins are welcome, patients can also schedule an appointment by calling (541) 768-2220. For those who don’t have insurance, a representative of the Oregon Health Plan will be available to help people sign up. To see the schedule of SamCare Mobile Medicine locations and hours, visit samhealth.org/MobileMed.