Hancock Public Health's mobile clinic moves forward

When nurse practitioner Laura Reinhart saw the listing for the position at Hancock Public Health's mobile clinic, she thought it was meant for her. After all, she has "a passion for serving the underserved." Reinhart and Elisa Dyer, a certified medical assistant, are now traveling with the mobile clinic around Hancock County, with the goal of being what Reinhart called the "gateway" back into health care for those who aren't currently connected with the health care system. The mobile clinic, after years of planning, was unveiled in May 2021. But at the time, COVID-19 vaccines were relatively new, and the clinic's priority was delivering them. Now, they're taking on more other projects — and bringing on Reinhart and Dyer as staff. Both women stressed that there is still a lot more to come. "Oh, I'm so excited," Reinhart said. The mobile clinic has been visiting City Mission every week to take care of its homeless residents. Reinhart said many of them haven't seen a primary care provider or had labwork done in a long time, so she starts by doing a general health assessment. Reinhart plans in the near future to meet with trustees of Hancock County's townships. "I love medicine," said Reinhart, who grew up in New Riegel. "I love this area." Dyer, too, was drawn to the work by the ability to help others. She said she's enjoying going out in the community. The clinic offers HIV, cholesterol and A1C (an average of blood glucose) screening on the premises. Reinhart said the hope is community members may be more aware of problems early. After all, she said, someone can have high cholesterol and not know they have it, putting them at risk of health complications. Doing this testing on more people more routinely will also "keep them out of the ER," Dyer said. The mobile clinic has been visiting area events and festivals. And they'll provide some screenings at the Hancock County Fair. The intent is to help community members know their health status, then refer them to a primary care provider for more care. "Our goal is not to be a primary care on wheels," Reinhart said. The mobile clinic also will be working with Family Resource Center to assess people's mental health, and refer them to others if they need to. Reinhart previously worked in primary care at a practice devoted to mental health, and has a lot of experience with substance abuse treatment, including providing medication-assisted treatment. She said that, on the mobile clinic, she expects to meet with people who are using drugs — and wants them to ensure they won't feel judged. "You treat them like a person," she said. Dyer said they're also working closely with the health department's Bloodborne Infectious Disease Prevention Program, which works with people who use drugs. That team is "opening our eyes," she said. In the near future Reinhart will be reviewing data from the recently released 2021 Hancock County Community Health Assessment to get a sense of the community's needs. She noted that young adults in their 20s and 30s tended not to respond to the survey in as high numbers as older adults, and she's especially interested in finding out what their health needs are. Dyer looks forward to coming up with more programs the mobile clinic might get involved with, such as perhaps providing wellness checks or vaccinations to children. "There's so many possibilities," she said.