Baldwin visits Friendship hospital to celebrate mobile clinic

Baldwin visits Friendship hospital to celebrate mobile clinic

Sen. Tammy Baldwin made a stop at Emplify Health by Gundersen Friendship Hospital on Sept. 22 to celebrate the opening of the Emplify Health by Gundersen's Pediatric Mobile Clinic, which began operating in Adams County in July. Baldwin and the Senate Appropriations Committee, through the Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, secured $231,000 for the project.

Baldwin toured the mobile unit, then spoke with Emplify Health by Gundersen and Adams-Friendship School District leaders about her work on behalf of rural healthcare. She also heard about the future of the clinic in Adams County and throughout the healthcare system's footprint.

"To be at a critical access hospital is particularly important at this period of time where we're trying to raise public awareness of how vital they are to communities across the state and across the nation," Baldwin said, "but also a time when the policies coming out of Washington have created new challenges and will be creating new challenges."

Baldwin noted the barriers to healthcare that many in Adams County face, and it's something she said she's working to reduce. She applauded Emplify Health by Gundersen for "stepping up" and taking meaningful action to find solutions to the challenges - one of which being the creation of the Mobile Pediatric Clinic.

"Thanks for stepping up to provide an opportunity for not just illness care, but wellness care," Baldwin said. "Early intervention and prevention to give kids the best chance they can get at a healthy life.

Jennifer Kleven, MD, a pediatrician at Emplify Health by Gundersen who was part of the steering committee that helped make the mobile clinic a reality, said it's been a pleasure working with the Adams-Friendship community to serve students, whether it's by providing vaccinations to prepare young ones for 4k or sports physicals so athletes can take the field.

"We're looking forward to working with other communities to do the same thing," Kleven said.

Adams-Friendship district administrator Tom Wermuth said he appreciates the mobile clinic's launch in the area.

"There was a level of excitement with the school, county and even one of the local farms as we build this group to figure out what we were going to do, it's just unbelievable," he said. "As it now is in service, we have people stopping by, asking about the service. I just think that presence and showing that we're here for residents in Adams County can make a big difference."

The mobile clinic's current focus is serving students in and around the Adams and Friendship communities, and the timing couldn't have been better. Crystal Holmes, director of student services for the school district, said the district had previously partnered with other behavioral health services, but because of the district's remote location, they lost these partnerships. Having Emplify Health by Gundersen's mobile clinic step in means the students can once again receive physical and mental health services without having to miss class for long periods of time.

When asked about children with asthma and other chronic illnesses in the school system, Holmes said that asthma is common. The school doesn't have a doctor's prescription for many of these students, which makes treatment a challenge.

"We have a high rate of chronic health conditions in our school district. Students who receive special education services often have chronic conditions that go hand in hand," she said. "We're at about a 26, 27 percent rate of our student population receiving some type of service."

But Emplify Health by Gundersen officials aren't limiting their reach to just the schools; they're currently looking at different events and locations where the mobile unit can reach children and families, including county fairs; Women, Infants and Children appointments; and other community events.

"There are many children in rural areas who are not receiving healthcare, said Frank Perez-Guerra, administrator at Emplify Health by Gundersen Friendship Hospital. "There are various reasons, such as fewer providers being available, issues finding affordable transportation to appointments and parents' work schedules. The pediatric mobile clinic helps remove some of these barriers, enabling us to bring care directly to the patient, outside the four walls of our clinics."

In the future, the team hopes to expand its services to other communities. The goal, Kleven said, is to get patients connected with primary care providers - with the mobile clinic being the conduit - so that the emergency room doesn't have to be used for non-emergency visits.

Baldwin asked what the dream is for the clinic once it's at full speed.

"Our dream is for our mobile clinic to be able to bring pediatric care to children in whatever community and spot they need it," Kleven said.