LAKE COUNTY — Seniors and other residents in remote areas around the lake with no access to health care may soon find their lives a little less complicated. That is the idea behind plans in the works at Sutter Hospital for a mobile health clinic that would regularly travel around the county.
Slated to begin running in about a year, or as soon as fund-raising goals are met, the mobile unit was the brainchild of Sutter Hospital leaders who began plans six months ago. “It”ll go to all the nooks and crannies & we”ll probably start with the senior centers, but we also want to access people who aren”t hooked up to any services and agencies who are in areas that are far removed,” said Lakeside Wellness Foundation Director Leslie Lovejoy.
The mobile unit will provide free-of-charge health risk assessment, flu shots, lab work, physicals, and wellness coaching. Sutter Lakeside Hospital CEO Kelly Mather says the long-range goal of the mobile clinic will include reaching out to the uninsured, and pockets of our community that where residents lack transportation, or otherwise do not have the capability to schedule and get to health care appointments. “We do see really branching out in the future to provide care to anyone with a need,” said Mather.
That”s the goal Sutter leaders hope will involve networking with dozens of other health care related agencies and will be launched with a fundraiser Feb. 24, at the California National Guard Armory in Lakeport. The event will include local entertainment, and because the theme this year is “M*A*S*H” a special guest, Jamie Farr who played Cpl. Klinger in the original television series, will be in attendance. A huge party with a variety of entertainment, including a band, dance performance, and dinner is planned. Local residents may recall that since 2002, the annual Sutter wellness fundraiser had a “Carnival” theme, with attendees donning elaborate costumes.
This year event planners thought the M*A*S*H theme to be more apropos, considering the television show featured a form of mobile health care. Mather says that in previous years, the goal of the annual fundraiser was to provide for a variety of programs at the wellness center and to introduce the public to them. One such program is Camp Watawata that sends 180-200 kids to a health education camp at Saratoga Springs. Also supported were scholarships to the wellness stress clinic, or “Wellness University.”
According to the Lake County Department of Health Services, data from a community needs assessment study found that 10 percent of the community is struggling with access health care.
Lovejoy says that while it is too early in the process to have heard feedback from the public about the mobile unit project, Sutter has been contacting local senior centers, who say it is a need. Middletown Senior Center spokesperson Debbie Bissonnette said, “We have a flu clinic provided every fall by the Public Health Department, if a mobile unit providing additional care could pair with that, it sounds great,” she said.
Lovejoy described how the idea for the clinic came into being, “Tammi and I were talking one day about how to reach people in the community who maybe don”t know about or have access to basic health care, we kind of looked at each other, and she said, you know, it”s too bad we don”t have a mobile unit.” Then we took that idea to the board and brainstormed,” Lovejoy said. Members of that team include Tammi Silva, Mora Anderson, Leslie Lovejoy, and Lakeside Foundation Board president Toni Funderberg.
Previous Carnival-themed fundraisers returned between $50,000 and $75,000. Mather anticipates the M*A*S*H event will raise at least that amount, and it will take the remainder of the year to collect $250,000, the amount needed to purchase the clinic. “We are also applying for grants through the California Endowment, and as soon as we get the money we”ll buy a unit,” said Mather. For upkeep of the facility, annual fundraising events will take place.
“In the past we were very successful raising money, this year we felt we needed much more focus, rather than just say we”re raising money for wellness,” we decided, let”s pick one item that would really help the community and improve the health of seniors, let”s pick something along the lines with mobile care.” And that”s where the idea of M*A*S*H came up, because the show has to do with mobile care,” said Mather.
Sutter began organizing in August, about six months before the event, every leader at Sutter Hospital is involved, including the Lakeside Foundation Board made of 10 community members. These members get on the board if they”re asked, usually if they are nominated by current board members. Board president Toni Funderberg said the mobile unit will be just what the doctor ordered. “Lots of community members are volunteering and helping with this goal, it”s going to be a great success,” said Funderberg.
