Bayhealth cut the ribbon on a new mobile health unit at the Delaware State Fair Thursday morning.
Bayhealth Mobile Care is a 36-foot RV with a private exam room and two screening booths, offering various health screenings, vaccinations, physical exams, lab work and echocardiograms.
Bayhealth Foundation president Lindsay Rhodenbaugh says the rig carries a $700,000 price tag and took two and a half years to build due to supply chain issues. It replaces a 25 year-old vehicle.
“Bringing screening and healthcare to folks in Delaware, especially Kent and Sussex Counties, that might not have a doctor, that may have at this point after the pandemic postponed their health care for a while, we see an awful lot of that now," Rhodenbaugh says. "And it’s tragic when folks have been, for whatever reason, afraid to go to the hospital, reluctant to go to a doctor.”
Rhodenbaugh says the RV will travel all over southern Delaware to public places, employers, and aging communities.
Bayhealth’s Chief Nursing Executive Rosemary Wurster says post-pandemic, healthcare is changing.
“When you think about health, some people think of just doctor's offices or hospitals, but that is no longer the case. We put wheels on it and are taking it directly to people," Wurster says. "Sometimes someone's biggest barrier is ‘I don’t want to go out’ or ‘I can’t go out,’ or something like that, and this is a great option to bring it right to them.”
Rhodenbaugh says a special license is not required to drive the RV and they are hiring a second driver to get the unit on the road more often, as well as a community outreach coordinator.
