CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The local VA clinic recently added two new mobile medical units to provide on-the-go care to rural Coastal Bend and Texas Valley communities.
The VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Healthcare System's mobile clinics will visit eight cities weekly. The units act as a way to remove the barrier of distance from veterans' access to healthcare.
"The mobile unit will provide primary care services, so think of it as a primary care clinic on wheels," said Dr. Jennifer Wood, chief of staff for the VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Healthcare System.
The new mobile medical units are staffed with a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant, registered nurse, clerk, driver, audiologist and audiologist tech. They provide full-service audiology and women's health exams.
"They will be traveling to the most rural areas of the South Texas Coastal Bend section and the effort really is to take care to our veterans, rather than our veterans having to come to us," Wood said.
To make sure rural communities are covered, VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Healthcare System customer service manager Hugo Martinez said they will cover far distances. Cities include Alice, Kingsville, Rockport, Carrizo Springs, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, Zapata and Falfurrias.
"We realize that there are a lot of veterans in rural communities that are, have a difficult time getting to a clinic, so the brick-and-mortar facilities that we have, so this is one way that we bring healthcare to our veterans in the rural areas closer to their homes."
22-year Army veteran Eumanual Dailey drives one of the units. He said it is another way for him to continue to help others.
“I continue to get to serve," Dailey said. "You know, to hang around veterans and continually serve veterans.”
Dailey uses the VA clinic in Corpus Christi. He said it's important for veterans to get the care they need to support themselves and their families, no matter where they live.
"A lot of veterans just don't realize what's out there for them, you know, all the support that they have," Dailey said.
Officials said veterans can check the VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Healthcare System's social media to see what city the mobile units will be in and when. You can also call 855-865-0516 for more information.
The new VA clinic in Corpus Christi also saw its first patient Monday. Until fully staffed, it is only seeing a limited number of patients. Officials expect the clinic to be fully operational in late Winter or early Spring.
