The Buffalo Trace District Health Department took delivery of its mobile clinic this week.

The Buffalo Trace District Health Department took delivery of its mobile clinic this week.

<p>An exam room inside the mobile clinic.</p>

An exam room inside the mobile clinic.

<p>Inside the mobile clinic.</p>

Inside the mobile clinic.

<p>Inside the mobile clinic.</p>

Inside the mobile clinic.

Bringing health care to the community just got easier for the Buffalo Trace District Health Department.

Earlier this week BTDHD took delivery of a mobile clinic, the first for the local health agency.

The mobile unit was the brainchild of former Director Allison Adams, current Director Victor McKay said.

“She shared her vision of taking the health department to those who may not be able to visit the clinic for one reason or another,” McKay said. “We wouldn’t be able to do that without her commitment to provide healthcare services to everyone in Mason and Robertson counties.”

The idea for the mobile clinic first came about when discussing health equity and the idea about bringing clinical services and health department programs out of our building and into the community, BTDHD spokesperson Samantha Wilson said.

“It has been part of the Kentucky public health transformation to bring public health to where the services are needed most or to meet the people where they are. Meeting people where they are is a bit of an entendre but nothing encapsulates this mantra more than the mobile clinic,” Wilson said.

“On the one hand, public health fills the gaps in health policy by providing programs that “meet people where they are” on their journey through a happy, healthy life,” Wilson said. She gave examples such as the Syringe Exchange Program — recently improved by Harm Reduction Specialist Jamie Whaley — which focuses its services on meeting patients where they are in terms of recovery.

“Some are ready to tackle addiction. Some are not. But Jamie hopes the mobile clinic will allow him to get out into the community and thus able to physically reach more patients due to the discretion the mobile allows,” she said.

The mobile clinic couldn’t have arrived at a more opportune time as it will play a vital role in BTDHD’s plan to provide mass vaccinations for COVID-19 once available.

“The mobile clinic will allow us to solve logistical issues in terms of our drive-thru clinic’s capacity when it comes to providing a hundred or more vaccines in a day,” Wilson said. “We can take the vaccine to communities throughout Mason and Robertson counties and bring health care closer to where people live.”

The Buffalo Trace District Board of Health approved the purchase of the mobile clinic a couple of years ago, McKay said.

The 35-foot Mobile Medical Outreach Clinic, manufactured by LifeLine Mobile, includes a full-size examination room, two nursing stations, restroom, refrigerator, sink, intake station, a seating area for patient education and plenty of storage area if and when needed, McKay said.

”This was all pre-COVID but now that it’s here, we plan to have the clinic mobile when the COVID vaccine becomes available to the general public,” he said.

“The unit will also be utilized for health screenings, immunizations and will be instrumental in promoting public health the all the citizens we serve,” he said. “The unit itself is spectacular and is a welcomed addition to our agency.”