CHARLESTON, W.Va – West Virginia’s health networks hope to bring greater awareness to their mobile health units after participating in the West Virginia Hospital Association’s Mobile Health Unit Showcase at the State Capitol.
Vandalia Health, WVU Medicine, Marshall Health Network, Appalachian Regional Healthcare, and Boone Memorial Health brought their units to the Capitol grounds on Monday to provide free screenings and show lawmakers participating in interim committee meetings how powerful mobile health units can be.
“We’re hoping to showcase that we are here and bridging the gaps in healthcare between health systems within West Virginia and the rural areas and showing what we can do with these units,” Marshall Health Community Outreach Coordinator Amber Payne said.
MHN’s MARCO Mobile Medicine set up screenings for oral cancer, as well as tests for vision, grip strength, and balance.
ARH’s Mobile Clinic provided baseline health screenings like A1C tests, blood pressure and cholesterol checks, and skin cancer screenings. ARH’s clinic is designed to help visitors set a foundation for their healthcare.
“This unit goes out all over our service area and is hopefully getting people more informed about where some of their numbers are so they can make choices to improve those if they need to be,” ARH vice president of external affairs Paige Franklin said.
Additional services on display included WVU Medicine’s LUCAS mobile lung cancer screening, Vandalia’s Medicine In Motion unit, and Boone Memorial’s Brighter Futures Mobile Recovery Clinic. Payne believes collaboration between the health networks is an important step.
“Whenever we come together for the good and the health and betterment of West Virginia, I think it shows, especially when we bring in the smaller health organizations as well, like ARH and Boone Memorial. We can really reach all of those rural areas,” she said.
Officials hope Monday’s showcase can let more people see the work being done in mobile health units. They believe these units are important to meeting people where they are in a rural state.
“ARH operates two facilities in West Virginia and 12 in Kentucky, all in similar geographies that can tend to be quite remote with tough terrain and things like that, so getting the care closer to the people and really working with local communities to make it a lot more accessible is just so important,” Franklin said.
In addition to the Mobile Health Unit Showcase, the West Virginia Hospital Association members participated in a “Healthcare Finance 101” session for legislators on Monday.