Adventist Health Mobile Care Unit hits the road with the COVID-19 vaccine and other health services

CENTRAL VALLEY – For many community members, the ability to visit the nearest healthcare facility or pharmacy to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or a regular health check-up, isn’t easy due to transportation issues or other barriers. But with Adventist Health’s Mobile Care Unit, healthcare providers are making it convenient to receive the vaccine by hitting the road several times a week to visit rural cities across the Central Valley.

A team, consisting of an Adventist Health Community Well-being director, medical assistant, licensed vocational nurse and provider, are making stops in Tulare, Avenal, Hanford, Laton, Selma, Dinuba, Reedley and Orange Cove to administer the COVID-19 vaccine and to provide health screenings, such as blood pressure and blood sugar checks. Some of the community members who are benefiting from the convenience include the homeless and parents who prefer the convenience over visiting a medical office.

“It was a great experience. The staff was positive, and my son received the vaccine with ease,” says Carmen Tamez, who visited the Mobile Care Unit in Laton, where her son was given the COVID-19 vaccine two months ago.

The goal is to eventually expand the Mobile Care Unit team, services and locations.

“When we first launched the Mobile Care program in 2019, we felt it was the best resource to increase access to healthcare,” says Dr. Raul Ayala, Ambulatory medical officer for Adventist Health in the Central Valley. “It’s biblical in the sense that when Jesus walked, he didn’t wait for people to come to him, he looked for people who needed healing and he went to them.”

The Mobile Care Unit was made possible through funding from the Central Valley Health Foundation and community supporters.