PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Health and wellness organization Geisinger is hitting the road with its Mobile Care Gap bus in order to reach those who have a care gap in their preventive health, according to a press release sent out on Tuesday.
The bus will offer critical services and screenings to many people, but will have a focus on those with diabetes.
“In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it closed the care gap on our diabetic population," Brandie O’Neil, care gaps mobile nurse health coordinator said in a statement. "Patients were missing critical yearly eye exams, kidney checks, and blood tests used to monitor how well people are managing blood sugar levels. This highlighted the need for a full-service diabetic population care bus to provide patient care to those who need it most. It really turned into something special to be able to serve our patients with diabetes.”
The bus will stop every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at different locations in the Geisinger footprint, also according to the press release. This includes in Central Pennsylvania.
Patients with care gaps will be contacted and scheduled for appointments on the bus, and no walk-ins will be taken.
Services provided by the bus include height, weight, and blood pressure checks, foot exams, diabetic retinopathy eye exams, nephropathy screenings (urine collection), and any overdue lab work including phlebotomy services, the release went on.
Patients seen on the bus can also be vaccinated against pneumonia and flu, if needed, and staff members can also assist in scheduling mammography and colorectal screening services.
The Geisinger team plans to continue care year-round. During the fall and winter, when it may be too cold, the mobile nurses will go into clinics to continue closing diabetic care gaps.
