Expanding Mobile Medical Services
Across North Carolina and South Carolina, mobile medical units provide needed health care services for residents who live in rural areas or who do not have access to quality care. To prevent illness and provide convenient health care away from traditional medical facilities, The Duke Endowment awarded 16 grants totaling $2.4 million between 1995 and 2000 to hospitals in the Carolinas for mobile medical units.
Challenge
Medical services in the Carolinas tend to be concentrated in urban areas. For rural residents and other underserved populations, lack of health insurance, transportation or time to travel to traditional medical facilities can keep people from seeking preventative care. When residents do not receive regular medical care and screenings, illnesses that might have been caught and treated can instead escalate into chronic or difficult-to-treat conditions.
Response
By providing funds for hospitals to operate mobile medical units, the Endowment aimed to help residents with limited access to medical resources receive the health care they needed. The mobile units were seen as one way to help prevent chronic disease and serious problems by identifying health concerns early. Services provided through the units included lab tests, immunizations, health risk screenings, women's health, nutrition counseling, chronic disease management, hearing tests and dental care.
Beginning in 1995, the Endowment began awarding grants to hospitals in the Carolinas to operate mobile medical units. Fifteen hospitals received grants to purchase and support mobile medical units in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Participating Sites
North Carolina
- Anson Community Hospital, Wadesboro
- Ashe Memorial Hospital, Jefferson
- Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, Fayetteville
- Catawba Memorial Hospital, Hickory
- Chowan Hospital, Edenton
- Mission St. Joseph's Healthcare Foundation, Asheville
- Mission St. Joseph's Health System, Asheville
- NorthEast Medical Center, Concord
- Northern Hospital of Surry County, Mount Airy
- Richmond Memorial Hospital, Rockingham
- Scotland Memorial Hospital, Laurinburg
South Carolina
- Anderson Area Medical Center, Anderson
- Bon Secours–St. Francis Xavier, Charleston
- Conway Hospital, Conway
- Franciscan Health System, Greenville
- Laurens County Hospital, Clinton
