Mobile care unit rolls out healthcare where it’s needed most

Angela Gutierrez, a medical assistant on Adventist Health’s mobile care unit, was putting materials away after an event when a woman approached her. “Excuse me, ma’am, would you be able to take my blood pressure?” the woman asked. “I’m not feeling well.” She was shaking and said she felt dizzy.

Angela immediately grabbed her blood pressure cuff to check her and read the numbers out loud. “280 over 180. That’s within the range of having a stroke.” Angela helped the patient get to the closest emergency department, where she was admitted and treated.

“That was a close one,” Angela says. “If we hadn’t been there, I’d hate to think what would’ve happened to her.” Once she was discharged, the woman returned to the mobile care unit with hugs and snacks. “She knew we had saved her life and was so grateful we were there.”

For many of our community members who face transportation barriers, getting to the doctor’s office isn’t easy. Our mobile unit enables us to reach out to our community wherever they may be, delivering both physical and mental care. This impactful program is entirely funded by donors and grants, and we need your help to keep it rolling.

Bringing exceptional healthcare to patients in need

“We’re taking the best of what we have in our hospitals and our clinics, and we have equipped this mobile unit to go out into the areas that have not been seen before,” explains Raul Ayala, MD, Ambulatory Medical Officer at Adventist Health Central Valley Network. “We have towns that are less than 500 people or 1,000 people, and the next healthcare provider is maybe 30, 50 or even 100 miles away.”

The mobile unit is only one part of our vision to bring healthcare — including a growing number of medical specialties — to clinics and sites throughout the region.  This vision also includes the family medicine residency program at Adventist Health in the Central Valley and clinic rotations for medical assistant, physician assistant and nurse practitioner students from over 50 schools.

Joseph Maddela, MD, a third-year resident at Adventist Health, is grateful for the opportunity to serve in the mobile clinic. “Having grown up in a rural community, it’s been my dream to give back to the people who raised me.”

Dr. Maddela and his colleagues provide care at clinics throughout the Central Valley and on the mobile unit, which travels across a 200-mile area and is fully equipped with the exam rooms, equipment and technology needed to provide care at schools, farms, homeless shelters and churches.

Thanks to you, our single mobile unit is transforming healthcare in the Central Valley. To join us in growing our mobile care program, please give today.