Beebe Community Mobile Health focus of congressional visit
With Beebe Healthcare’s two mobile health units as a backdrop, Sen. Tom Carper and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester touted the federal funds that helped bring the critically needed care to southern Delaware.
Beebe leaders thanked them for their commitment and the $1.59 million that made Beebe’s Behavioral Health Unit possible. It joined the larger Community Mobile Health Clinic in the fleet that brings vital care to rural Sussex County.
The event was held June 7 at Beebe’s Abessinio Health Campus near Rehoboth Beach.
Carper called Beebe a model for the state and the nation in addressing the needs of underserved communities.
“We must address root causes. Beebe is taking that to heart. These vans reach the far corners of Sussex County where transportation can be a barrier to getting treatment and preventative healthcare,” Carper said.
Blunt Rochester said community health initiatives start with stigma reduction. “It’s the whole issue of trust, the issue of seeing people as people and bringing dignity,” she said.
She also recounted the impact drug addiction had on her family growing up.
“My uncle was a heroin addict,” she said. “My grandparents were so stressed that it caused high blood pressure. They died prematurely and my mother had to take up the responsibility.”
She said her uncle eventually got clean and was able to enjoy the last years of his life.
Beebe’s mobile units have taken on an even more vital role with the recent surge in overdose cases in Sussex County. Those overdose numbers are now trending down.
“The number of people requiring hospitalization and acute care has declined significantly in the past few weeks,” said Dr. Bill Chasanov, Beebe’s vice president and chief health systems design officer.
The state Department of Health and Social Services said, between April 26 and May 12, there were 148 suspected overdoses and six fatalities suspected from overdose in Sussex County.
Chasanov said the mobile units have been key to saving lives. He said 1,500 doses of Narcan have been given out through the units and other community outreach programs since the start of the surge in April.
“It looks like a mini doctor’s office,” Chasanov said, speaking inside one of two examination rooms in the Community Mobile Health Clinic. “We use it for community harm reduction, STD prevention, Narcan kits, HIV and hepatitis-C testing, making sure people have access to basic preventative care and understanding their health needs.”
Since January, the mobile units have provided 92 outreach events and engaged with more than 2,000 people, according to Gwen Davis, the population health nurse practitioner on the Community Mobile Health Unit.
Beebe is planning to add two more mobile health unit vans to its fleet.
