SHS Mobile Medical Unit Provides Help on the Streets
By Leah Murry, Community Outreach Coordinator
The SHS Mobile Medical Unit makes regular visits to City Union Mission, Hope Faith Ministries, Newhouse Domestic Violence Shelter, Rose Brooks Center, ReStart Inc. and Morning Glory Ministries street outreach.
At Swope Health Services, we’re committed to helping homeless people who struggle day-to-day living on the streets of Kansas City.
Our solution is a program of outreach to the homeless, featuring a mobile medical unit that visits homeless shelters and missions three days a week.
The Mobile Medical Unit provides basic medical care and sometimes acute care, too. We provide support for those needing treatment for chronic ailments, like diabetes, asthma, or heart conditions.
On some days, it might be help for bedbugs, sore throat or testing for sexually transmitted diseases. On others, it might be TB testing, screening for HIV, or offering flu shots. Sometimes the discussions are educational, offering suggestions for healthier options and assisting with support services.
Our big converted bus functions just like a clinic. You start with registration, where SHS outreach workers can help clients get the services that can make a difference — whether it’s medical care, behavioral health care, or social services like housing referrals or job placement programs.
After registration, it’s on to the nursing station and a visit to the health care provider or behavioral health specialist.
While the unit may not be able to handle every medical situation, the team provides as much support as possible — including referrals and help with additional services like transportation to get dental care or lab tests back at our main campus.
Each visit is a chance to make a difference.
Please help spread the word about the SHS Mobile Medical Unit. If you have questions, please use the comment box below.
Everyone who visits the Mobile Medical Unit leaves with a new pair of socks, plus supplies like toothpaste or soap.
Provider Martin Murphy in the examination room in the Mobile Medical Unit.
My MBA team at Rockhurst is looking at a way to use a similar mobile unit for promoting healthy pregnancies amongst high risk populations in the KC urban core. Who can we talk to about getting a bus tour and possibly coordinating efforts here.
This is a tremendous Organization.. I especially wish to give encouragement to those who do this life rewarding work. I had the opportunity to go with Leah on a Mobile day. She is very resourceful and full of energy, you can tell this is more than a Job to her. Its her Life work. Her gifting, her calling if you will.