{"id":372492,"date":"2022-07-18T06:02:42","date_gmt":"2022-07-17T20:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=372492"},"modified":"2022-07-18T06:02:42","modified_gmt":"2022-07-17T20:02:42","slug":"chcc-debuts-first-mobile-clinic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/chcc-debuts-first-mobile-clinic\/","title":{"rendered":"CHCC debuts first mobile clinic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Members of the CNMI community check out Thursday the newest addition to CHCC\u2019s medical resources\u2014a customized bus that will serve as a mobile clinic\u2014as it was parked at CHCC\u2019s ample parking lot. (KIMBERLY ESMORES)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. officially introduced the CNMI\u2019s first mobile clinic to the community last Thursday and is now gearing up to officially launch the clinic-on-wheels to villages on Saipan.<\/p>\n

Members of the CNMI community were invited Thursday for a tour of the newest addition to CHCC\u2019s medical resources\u2014a customized bus that will serve as a mobile clinic, funded by the Northern Marianas Housing Corp.\u2019s Community Development Block Grant program
\nAside from members of the community, a handful of legislators came out to witness the unveiling of the mobile clinic. Students from Northern Marianas College, NMHC representatives, and CHCC staff also came out to take a tour of the top-of-the-line medical bus.
\nCHCC CEO Esther Mu\u00f1a said the mobile clinic is a wonderful gift not only to CHCC, but to the community as well. \u201cThis is really a very wonderful gift. We\u2019re now able to bring our providers out to the community and the mobile clinic is already set up and it has everything that we need. It\u2019s just perfect for us. We\u2019re really grateful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1a said the mobile clinic will not only help those who lack transportation to go to CHCC for medical assistance, but it will also help CHCC reach more people in case any natural disaster were to strike the CNMI in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen NMHC approached us to get the mobile clinic, we thought about what has happened in the past when we were trying to bring health care to the villages, to people that really don\u2019t have access to get to the hospital. We saw that in [Super] Typhoon Yutu. And now this is an opportunity to prepare ourselves,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

According to Dave Baker, chairman of the board for Federally Qualified Healthcare Saipan, the mobile clinic is a great addition to CHCC\u2019s services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mobile clinic is really great for the community. We\u2019re able to get everywhere across the island for people that don\u2019t have transportation or it might be convenient for community members to stop off at the clinic. Maybe it\u2019s stationed over at the library or maybe its stationed one day over at the airport. So we\u2019re able to go around the community for those people that need services. When you look on board, it has the ability to provide several types of health care services, not just immunization, but there\u2019s other types of services that can be provided there. We\u2019re very grateful that it\u2019s here and I think our community is going to love it,\u201d he said.
\nCHCC chief of clinics, Halina Palacios, said the first mobile clinic outreach is currently set for September. \u201cThis arrived about three weeks ago and with the mobile clinic came somebody that will train our staff on how to turn it on, get it going, and all the specifications. So we\u2019re just working on the details and we plan to have our first outreach by the end of September,\u201d she said.
\nPalacios added that the mobile clinic is a $400,000 project made possible under the NMHC CDBG program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis mobile clinic is a $400,000 vehicle. In 2020, there were initial talks about a possible funding opportunity through a block grant with NMHC. So that 2021 dream has now become a reality. They funded this mobile clinic. We just did the minimal work. We found the vendor, we gave them our specifications needed to better serve our community, but NMHC through the block grant paid for this. They also assisted us with all the various registration fees to make sure that it\u2019s good to go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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