State Health Department Launches Mobile Wellness Units For More Accessible Healthcare

Some people have trouble getting the healthcare they need, so the Oklahoma State Department of Health is taking healthcare to them. 

Kristin Corollo with the Muskogee Health Department took News on 6 on a tour of the state health department's new mobile wellness unit. 

"We have everything you need under one roof. We have all the tools we need to be able to do ultrasounds, I checked, blood pressure checks," Corollo said. 

In just a few steps inside the 40-foot trailer, a patient can be sitting in a doctor's chair. The unit is complete with sinks, a restroom, refrigerator, and a waiting room. It's the state health department's first step to making Oklahoma healthier - especially in rural areas. 

"This mobile unit will go anywhere, so we need to go to the people, not expect the people to come to us all the time," Oklahoma State Department of Health regional director Tina Johnson said. 

Johnson said the idea came with last year's Medicaid expansion and wanting to give better care to the elderly and disabled.  

“We wanted to help them get those people started with their care and then be able to bridge the resource to get them into a healthcare provider at home,” Johnson said. 

Johnson said the mobile wellness units will offer services from child and women's health, family planning and vaccines, nutrition, and education. Each district has one unit with two nurse practitioners treating patients. 

Johnson said the goal is to go to a different location a day, four days a week and take up to 30 patients daily.  

"We have got to work to get Oklahoma to be a healthy state, and this is one of the first steps in helping the rural community to be able to get access to care to assist them with chronic disease, and to help them expand her life expectancy. We have got to make a difference," Johnson said. 

District 7's mobile wellness unit will start giving out services to Okfuskee, Okmulgee and Muskogee Counties. To find out where the vans are daily, you can contact your local health department.