EL DORADO: County Pursues Mobile Clinic For Rural Service

      The El Dorado County Public Health Department has approved a plan to purchase and operate a mobile clinic that would provide health services for people in rural counties. The Sierra Health Foundation has made a $70,000 grant toward the $200,000 project. The county also has requested funds from the Sacramento-based California Endowment to support non-medical efforts, such as family advocacy, the Tahoe Daily Tribune reports. It also will receive an annual federal grant of $100,000 for the next three years from the Office of Rural Health Outreach to pay for staff. The mobile clinic would be staffed by a nurse practitioner, a medical assistant and a driver. It would set up shop in supermarket parking lots or at community centers and would be open in the evening and Saturdays to accommodate working parents. According to Michelle Telford-Vegas, the nurse practitioner who will staff the van, its purpose is to serve people without health insurance and people with insurance who may have difficulty accessing services "because of weather, roads or other issues." County officials hope to begin serving rural counties, such as Pollock Pines, in the next three months. They plan to expand to Somerset, Pleasant Valley and surrounding areas (Bose, 5/14).