The UNMC College of Nursing loaned its Mobile Nurse Managed Clinic to OneWorld Community Health Center after a fire destroyed OneWorld’s Plattsmouth clinic.
OneWorld’s Cass Family Medicine Clinic has been seeing patients in the mobile clinic in Plattsmouth since Jan. 15. The clinic, along with other businesses, was destroyed in a fire on Jan. 3. A temporary clinic will open in about two weeks while seeking a permanent location in Plattsmouth.
“We are very grateful to the College of Nursing at UNMC for allowing us to use their mobile clinic,” said Kristine McVea, M.D., OneWorld Community Health Center chief medical officer.
Kim Lambrecht, clinic manager of the Cass Family Medicine Clinic, said the support of the College of Nursing was critical to the recovery effort.
“We are very fortunate to be able to use such a great mobile clinic,” Lambrecht said. “It has allowed our clinic to continue to serve our patients in Plattsmouth. Without the clinic, our patients would have to travel to Omaha and most of them have transportation barriers. The patients have been very appreciative for the services we have been able to provide in the mobile center.”
Lambrecht credits Kelly McDonald, director of administration and operations for the college, for making arrangements for the clinic to use the mobile unit.
Juliann Sebastian, Ph.D., dean of the UNMC College of Nursing, said the college is happy to be able to help.
“We have the ability to help them out of a crisis and respond to their need to continue to serve their patients,” she said. “It is tremendously important to try to avoid breaks in the continuity of care people count on and need, and a value that we hold dear as nurses.”
The 38-foot, custom-built vehicle is equipped with two exam rooms, a wheelchair lift, laboratory testing equipment, and EKG machines. It’s also equipped with high-definition video capability, which can be used as a tool for a live telehealth connection to the patient’s care providers or to specialists for consultation anywhere in the state.