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Beebe Healthcare Celebrates Community Mobile Health Clinic with Ribbon Cutting

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Community Mobile Health Clinic Ribbon Cutting

Beebe Healthcare leaders and partners cut the ribbon Wednesday on the new 36-foot Community Mobile Health Clinic. The Mobile Health Clinic will hit the road later this year to provide behavioral and community health services throughout Sussex County.

“This signals a change – by bringing healthcare to the community, Beebe is fundamentally changing the way it can deliver care to Sussex County as it continues to grow,” said David A. Tam, MD, MBA, CPHE, FACHE, President & CEO, Beebe Healthcare. “This Mobile Health Clinic enables Beebe Healthcare to deliver superior access to care however, wherever, and whenever patients need it.”

When the Mobile Health Clinic arrives at a location, one of Beebe’s peer coaches will engage community members outside the mobile clinic to find out what services the patients might need. Patients will be triaged and sent to one of the two exam areas inside. There, the multi-disciplinary teams will be able to provide behavioral health and/or mental health services, assess for social needs, connect individuals to appropriate programs and resources, in addition to offering preventative physical health screenings and services. Telemedicine with physicians will be available, if needed, as will translation services. The mobile unit has satellite broadband internet, a solar panel and more than 400 square feet of clinical space.

“The Behavioral Health Team’s motto is ‘We’re in the businesses of helping people,’” said Shawna Mayles, RN, SANE, DE-CMHS, Nurse Manager Behavioral Health Team at Beebe Healthcare. “This community-focused mobile health clinic is going to expand our team’s reach and bring much needed care to even more people in our community.”

By focusing on addressing complex behavioral, physical and social health needs, this mobile clinic will enable specialized team members to reach underserved populations, conduct more free screenings, share information, and connect patients to further needed resources without the barrier of transportation.

“The mobile clinic’s dedicated multidisciplinary team will be able to offer these services to patients and communities literally where they are, rather than having to come to a medical office or emergency department,” said Kim Blanch, BSN, RN, Director of Community Outreach. “Beebe is bringing care to the community and connecting the community to care. We are so thankful for the support of Beebe leadership and our partners.”

Many layers of philanthropy have made this Community Mobile Health Clinic and its programs and services possible. In August 2021, the Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH) awarded the Beebe Medical Foundation, on behalf of Beebe Healthcare, a State Opioid Response grant to expand its treatment capacity and to engage and serve high-risk populations. The $550,000 funding enabled Beebe to purchase this first mobile unit.

“We gathered today to see the power of philanthropy in action and literally in motion,” said Tom Protack, President, Beebe Medical Foundation. “Philanthropy is the love of humankind.  As we look at the different colorful images of people on this mobile unit, we are quickly reminded of the diversity of Sussex County and Beebe Healthcare’s commitment to equity and inclusion.”

One of the very first donors to partner with Beebe was Michelle Freeman, Owner and CEO of the Carl M. Freeman Companies and President and Chair of the Carl M. Freeman Foundation. In April 2022, the Carl M. Freeman Foundation awarded a three-year matching grant of $370,000 in support of this mobile health initiative. Many individual donors have graciously help support the project, too.

“As a donor, all you want to see is that your dollar makes a difference. To see Carl M. Freeman Foundation’s grant in action with Beebe Healthcare – unbelievable,” Freeman said Wednesday at the ribbon cutting. “What I think is beautiful about this mobile clinic is that it will go into communities with barriers and create an environment where there is no shame for people to seek and receive care.”

Left to right: Chief Natosha Carmine, Nanticoke Indian Tribe of Delaware, Chaplain Keith Goheen, Bill Chasanov, DO, Chief Population Health Officer, Beebe Healthcare, Kim Blanch, BSN, RN, Director of Community Outreach, Michelle Freeman, Shawna Mayles, RN, SANE, DE-CMHS, Nurse Manager of Beebe’s Behavioral Health Unit, Dr. David Tam, President & CEO, Beebe Healthcare, Terry Megee, Board Chair, Tom Protack, President, Beebe Medical Foundation.