Mobile Health Unit Helps Patients in Kentucky

VANCEBURG, Ky., Aug. 15 -- King's Daughters Mobile Health units are designed to take health-care services to patients in areas far from its Ashland campus, but it's the free services that make the program effective.

On Wednesday, KDMC's blue mobile health unit rolled into the parking lot of the Vanceburg location of PrimaryPlus center, an area it visits about once a month. Just after 10 a.m. the unit opened its doors to patients who were already waiting.

Vonda Potter, an LPN and a KDMC outreach coordinator, is one of two staff members onboard the unit, which travels five days a week throughout the region.

"Today we're doing a healthy heart screening, which includes an EKG, cholesterol, sugar and blood pressure. Everything is free. We get grants to come out and do the screenings for free," Potter explained. "We're trying to reach patients in outlying areas that don't have acess to a lot of health care. We try to bring services to them, instead of having to drive.

"A lot of people just don't go to the doctor because it is so far. Coming to the mobile unit sometimes really gives them an opportunity to check up on their blood pressure, blood sugar and things like that," added Rick Porter, Potter's partner in the mobile unit.

KDMC's partnership with PrimaryPlus is a win-win for both, agreed Tracy McGuire, marketing and community relations director for PrimaryPlus.

"It's great working with them to be able to offer additional free services," she said. The word "free," McQuire added, is often enough on its own to entice individuals to get screened who otherwise wouldn't.

"We have a lot of self-underinsured patients and clients," she said. "They come when they need to come to the doctor, and not for their regular checkups. This allows them to come and be part of something and not have any cost incurred."

As a federally qualified health center, PrimaryPlus is able to offer underinsured and noninsured patients care on a sliding scale, but many still don't seek care, said McQuire.

According to KentuckyHealthFacts.org, 20% of Lewis Countians reported in 2010 that they did not have a personal doctor or a regular healthcare provider. A year earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 26% of population was uninsured and 21% of individuals did not see a doctor when they needed to, solely because of the high cost.

"I have a lot of health problems and no health insurance," said Cathy Applegate of Vanceburg, who along with her son and husband received free screenings on Wednesday.

"They told me through the sleep apnea program that I needed to see a heart doctor, but I didn't have the money for that," Applegate explained, noting when she learned about the free mobile heart screening close to home, she jumped at the opportunity.

"We have very little money, and it's hard for us to get anywhere," she said. "I would recommend it to everyone."

Tommy Applegate agreed. Without his wife's encouragement and without the tests being free, he said, "I wouldn't have had it done."

That also goes for Jackie Evans of Vanceburg.

"It's really good. I don't have my license, so I could just walk here and have everything done," she said. Evans said she visited the mobile unit last year for screening, too.

Bringing the unit to Lewis County was key for Evans, who says she is unlikely to ask someone to drive her to Ashland for a test.

"I don't like to inconvenience somebody. I like to do things myself, so things like this are very beneficial to me," she added.

Transportation is also a frequently cited barrier to care for patients in surrounding areas, said McGuire. Patients aren't likely to drive long distances -- 35 miles in any direction to reach a hospital -- and rely on one of PrimaryPlus' six locations for most of their care.

Through its partnership with KDMC, she said, the facility is able to offer access to more advanced and specialized care in Lewis County. For example, a KDMC physicians assistant visits the center each Friday to provide cardiology care to patients.

Recently, the two collaborated to build a helicopter landing pad, which has already become well-used to transport victims of trauma and heart attacks to the Ashland hospital in a fraction of the time it would take in an ambulance.

The PrimaryPlus location in Lewis County, just off the A-A Highway, is one of six facilities owned by the nonprofit between South Shore and Augusta. At its Lewis County location, PrimaryPlus offers general practice care, emergency services, dental care, women's health and an on-site pharmacy.

Copyright 2013 - The Daily Independent, Ashland, Ky.