Desert Healthcare District unveils mobile clinic to provide care to underserved residents

A new "clinic on wheels" from the Desert Healthcare District will soon hit the streets and deliver medical services to the Coachella Valley's most underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities.

District officials, Desert Regional Medical Center health care professionals and other community leaders gathered Friday at the Palm Springs hospital to unveil the mobile medical van. The unit includes two exam rooms with beds, a refrigerator to store vaccines and a restroom. The exterior also includes an awning that can extend several feet to provide shade.

Services that will be provided include check-ups, vaccinations and procedures, such as laceration repair or skin lesion treatment. Dr. Gemma Kim, Desert Physicians Medical Group Health chief academic officer and one of the lead physicians of the mobile van, said she is also hoping to set up STD screenings.

"We will be able to extend our services to reach many more vulnerable communities within the valley, such as the homeless population, refugees, migrant farmworkers, senior citizens and children," Kim said, with hopes to partner with more local organizations such as school districts if children need sports physicals or vaccinations.

The van will go to specific sites around the valley and have expanded hours of operation outside of regular work hours so more people can receive the services they need. A schedule was not available as of Friday.

Those who will be providing services include a multidisciplinary team of faculty physicians from various specialties, resident physicians, medical students, clinic pharmacists, pharmacy residents, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, nursing students and social workers. Kim estimated that 50 to 100 patients per day could be seen in the mobile unit, depending on the services they need.

Officials are hoping to launch the van on the streets in January. State certification processing is still pending. Once it is running, people can make appointments by calling 760-561-7337 or visiting www.DPMGHealth.com.

The Desert Healthcare District, a local government agency, allocated $336,500 to purchase the mobile unit in May 2021. The Coachella Valley Resource Conservation District provided $175,000, while the remaining dollars came from district grants.

During the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Desert Healthcare District was approached by Riverside County Public Health to help disperse vaccines in an equitable manner, said Alejandro Espinoza, chief of community engagement for the district. That partnership led to the formation of the Coachella Valley Equity Collaborative, comprised of several local organizations, including Alianza Coachella Valley, Galilee Center, TODEC Legal Center and Vision y Compromiso. The collaborative has provided more than 47,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses and more than 24,000 COVID-19 tests, Espinoza said.

Around that same time, the district began conversations with Growing Coachella Valley, an association of farmers and community professionals working to promote and support local farming and agricultural businesses. Espinoza said the organization's board members were concerned about the miscommunication and lack of guidance from all levels of government regarding farmworker protections and how to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks at facilities.

"The first couple of meetings with them were very intense and emotionally charged because they were frustrated and couldn't understand why farmworkers and food service workers were not initially classified as essential workers, which would put them in front of the line to get access to the COVID-19 vaccine," Espinoza said. Ultimately, pressure from Growing Coachella Valley and support from elected officials and community-based organizations led to changes and farmworkers being eligible for vaccines sooner.

But barriers to getting vaccinated, such as lack of internet access, remained for many. George Tudor, president and CEO of Tudor Ranch Inc., "stepped up to the plate" and allowed the district to set up clinics at his facility, Espinoza said, giving farmworkers and migrant workers the chance to get their shots where they worked and when it was most convenient for them. Soon, other sites opened their doors for additional vaccination sites. Within a few months, more than 8,000 farmworkers were vaccinated through the collaborative effort, Tudor said.

The success these clinics had with reducing access barriers to health care services eventually led to the idea of a mobile van that could provide similar services to other underserved communities around the valley.

"It was the community members who came to us and said 'we want this community mobile clinic to bring services to people where they are, where they work, where they live, where they go for services, to churches, to every place we have in our community where we congregate people who have limited access to health care services,'" Desert Healthcare District and Foundation CEO Dr. Conrado Bárzaga said.

Instrumental to the charge were promotoras, or community health workers, who provided outreach, educational information and resources to community members during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Belen Navarro, a promotora with Vision y Compromiso, spoke with many Thermal and Oasis residents at outreach events. Many, especially undocumented individuals, were fearful of going to COVID-19 test sites because they were worried they would be asked to present social security numbers or health insurance and that that information would be shared with governmental bodies. She and other promotoras went to homes, parks, stores and other sites to provide reliable information to those who needed it.

Looking at the new mobile van, Navarro said it was "like a dream come true."

"We were asking for it. In our weekly meeting, we were always asking, 'What about a mobile clinic so they can go to different places and sites and provide services?'" she said. "There's a lot of necessity in this area."

Tudor said the mobile unit is a twofold gift to his employees.

"First, knowing I'll be able to tell our employees that they will be provided with health care services on site during work hours is a gift to me because it truly warms my heart," Tudor said. "More importantly, my employees are being offered the gift of time and health, arguably two of the most valuable things in life."

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Desert Healthcare District unveils van to offer care in remote areas