Mobile health clinic sets up in Springfield for all residents, including Haitian migrants

A mobile health clinic arrived in Springfield on Thursday, in an effort to lessen strains on the local healthcare system and support improved access to care for all residents in the community.

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News Center 7′s Malik Patterson was able to get a look inside the mobile unit as part of our team coverage of the situation in Springfield that has involved the influx of Haitian migrants.

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There is a waiting room and two patient rooms in the unit that will initially be stationed at Clark County Combined Health District.

Gov. Mike DeWine, a week ago, announced plans to open a mobile health clinic in the city.

Inside looks like any other medical exam room, just smaller. There will be at least two registered nurses and a physician to help with basic needs, including prescribing medication, and medical staff will see anyone who lives in Clark County -- insured or not.

Operating hours will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The goal now is to get as many people caught up on their flu shots and other vaccines before winter. The clinic also can do regular screenings.

Chris Cook, Clark County health commissioner, said the clinic will remain stationed at the health district building for about three weeks before it will be taken into the community.

The clinic is set up to “let you do a couple of visits, get some baseline information, maybe even start you on medications if you didn’t know you had high blood pressure and then get you plugged into the system,” Cook said.

“So it isn’t designed to be urgent care,” he said. “Definitely not the permanent home, but we’re that bridge.”

A permanent solution to ease strains on the local healthcare system is still being sought, Cook said, including the possibility of opening an additional urgent care facility in the city.

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