mybonsecours
Bringing care to the uninsured.
In November, a 50 year old Nweport News resident had his first doctor's visit in 20 years. In late January, he had his third. Mr. X lives in Hampton Roads and has been uninsured for nearly half his life. Over the years when he was sick seeing a doctor just wasn't an option. "I just bear with it and deal with it," he said. Then, last fall, someone told him about the Bon Secours Care-A-Van.
For the past 17 years, Bon Secours has sent mobile units into the Richmond area to provide vaccinationes, screenings, and other primary care services to people who are uninsured or have other barriers to getting medical care. The services are free. A health van started making stops on the peninsula (in Newport News) during the summer of 2009 and on the south-side in late 2010. Bon Secours added a fourth medical Care-A-Van, this one dedicated to Hampton Roads. Starting this year, it will make regular stops in Norfolk and Portsmouth six times a month.
"The need is obvious," said Dr. Amy Price, the new van's medical director. "We go where the need is. We have the capacity to make things a little bit easier. It's the right thing to do from a moral standpoint, but it's also a good thing to do business-wise."
The health vans are staffed with either a physician or nurse practitioner, along with a registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, two medical assistants and a driver. They can see 18 to 20 patients a day. The Hampton Roads Care-A-Van, which also stops in Newport News, is expected to see more than 3,000 patients a year.
A Care-A-Van patient shared, "Being without health care is very traumatic. When you get someone who helps, it makes you feel like there is a God somewhere."
