New Mobile Medical Unit Arrives in Douglas County

(Douglas County, Ore.) The Douglas County Board of Commissioners are excited to announce that earlier this week a 45-foot, 35,000 pound, 2008 International truck and trailer outfitted as a Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) rolled into Douglas County. The first of its kind in our area, the new MMU, currently dubbed, “MOBILE ONE,” will allow valuable and critical health care services to be delivered directly to all areas of the county, all with the turn of a key. MOBILE ONE is the first of two mobile medical units, the second arriving in about two weeks, that were purchased through a Federal C.A.R.E.S. Act Grant Program designated specifically for rural health initiatives. Both of the MMU’s will be administered locally by Aviva Health. “We are incredibly grateful that we have an amazing team here in Douglas County that was able to acquire this grant, and quickly make this mobile medical unit a reality. The MMU will provide invaluable medical and testing capabilities to our residents that were previously non-existent, not only during the current COVID-19 pandemic, but also as an asset for future medical outreach, education and disaster relief services,” commented Commissioner Tim Freeman. MOBILE ONE, was purchased from Life Line Mobile in Columbus, Ohio, who specialize in designing and refurbishing mobile medical units. Omar Assed, the Douglas County Fleet Division Manager and staff were able to secure and have the MMU delivered to us in less than six weeks. The MMU was previously owned by Peak Vista Medical in Colorado and used as Ronald McDonald Mobile Dental Clinic. It features a totally refurbished, fully contained 450 square foot medical clinic, complete with a reception area, two outfitted patient rooms, an ADA wheelchair accessible lift and essential medical equipment. It was delivered to Aviva Health in Roseburg, on Wednesday, December 2, 2020, so staff could begin the process of adding the final touches with new graphics, as well as stocking it with medical provisions and tools. Aviva Health, located at 150 NE Kenneth Ford Drive in Roseburg, currently provides primary medical, dental and behavioral health services at eight locations throughout Douglas County. The new MMU’s will now allow the medical staff at Aviva to bring health care services, testing, education and treatment directly to high- need areas of Douglas County that do not currently have access to reliable medical services. Aviva Health is a Federally Qualified Health Center and an Oregon Health Authority Designated Tier 4 Patient-centered Primary Care Home, recognition the organization has earned by providing not only high-quality clinical care, but a variety of support programs and resources to help residents achieve health goals. In the near term, Aviva Health intends to use the larger of the two units as a cough and fever clinic in response to COVID-19. Upon its arrival and when the COVID-19 vaccination is available, the smaller of the two MMU’s will be mobilized as a COVID-19 vaccination clinic. The long-term plan for both units is to utilize them in the traditional sense, to bring deserving, high quality, community-based, comprehensive health care to every resident, regardless of financial means. The tagline Aviva Health has developed for this new and exciting medical service unit is “Better Health Coming Your Way.” “We were humbled and honored to be selected to manage the two MMU’s for Douglas County. We want to thank the Douglas County Board of Commissioners and staff at Douglas County for the incredible effort that it took to get these units here expeditiously. We are very excited to start this new adventure and feel our new MMU tagline perfectly captures the intent behind the deployment of these two units, and underscores our promise to the people of Douglas County to provide compassionate, caring, accessible and affordable health care regardless of their ability to pay or insurance status,” stated KC Bolton, CEO Aviva Health.