Mobile Health Clinic – a FREE service to patients of all ages
By Patty Blackburn – Staff Writer
Every Tuesday, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., a blue bus is parked at 627 North 2nd Avenue, Lewisburg, in the vicinity where Potter’s Hands, the thrift and consignment store is located. This bus is a Mobile Health Clinic that is staffed with a physician assistant, a medical assistant, a mental health provider, a receptionist, and a bus driver. The Mobile Health Clinic is accessible to everyone, regardless of age or financial circumstances. All services are FREE; insurance is not required.
The Mobile Health Clinic is available through Project Rural Recovery, a program that uses mobile clinics to deliver integrated behavioral and physical health services in 20 rural Tennessee counties. This program began in 2020 with a $10 million, five-year federal grant. The Mobile Health Clinic that is in Lewisburg every Tuesday, also goes to Lawrence, Lewis, Perry and Wayne counties. In the three years they’ve been operating a Project Rural Recovery mobile clinic, Buffalo Valley has provided more than 5,000 patient visits in the five county area they serve.
“With Project Rural Recovery, we’re removing the barriers of transportation and cost so that people can access health care or maybe talk to someone about their mental health or substance use. Services at the mobile clinic are open to anyone and completely free of charge,” said Darren Layman, Project Rural Recovery Director with the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. “We’re so grateful to our partners at Buffalo Valley, Inc. for working with us to offer these life-changing services in Marshall County and four other counties in southern middle Tennessee.”
The mobile clinic is equipped- comparable to a regular medical clinic. The staff is able to test patients for strep, covid, flu, hepatitis C, and HIV- all for FREE. Other lab tests can be performed but are required to be sent to a lab for testing. Injections can be given when needed and also prescriptions. The prescription meds are discounted if the patient does not have health insurance. If the patient does have insurance, the same facility the patient normally uses to have their prescriptions filled is used and the cost is the same.
The staff is equipped to monitor and manage diabetes, hypertension, and cholesterol. A mental health provider is available to assess mental health, diagnose and treat mental illness, and serious emotional disturbances. Counseling services, medication management, substance use assessment, diagnosis and treatment of substance use disorders, and nicotine cessation are available with a professional staff available to assist patients.
Again, patients of all ages are accepted; the mobile clinic provides free complete primary care; free health care and behavioral health services. Even if patients have insurance, they will receive free services. Health care provided at NO cost to the patient. If there are questions concerning physical or mental health or substance use, call 931-628-0274. This is the direct line to the Mobile Health Clinic.
