Sentara Health mobile clinic ventures into Harrisonburg, Rockingham communities

Sentara Health opened its Community Care Clinic a year ago in downtown Harrisonburg, serving the Medicaid and uninsured communities in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

Sentara’s brand-new Mobile Care unit made its first stop in the Friendly City on Nov. 23.

“We are trying to get to where the need is,” Onesimo Baltazar Corona, Director of Operations for Sentara Community Care in Harrisonburg, said.

Sentara Mobile Care set up Saturday in Harrisonburg’s Northeast neighborhood to offer free prostate cancer blood screenings and education for clients of Our Community Place and Open Doors Shelter. The medical unit is the size of a tour bus, but is equipped with two exam rooms and can assist multiple patients at each location. The goal is to deliver care directly to communities and support individuals struggling with transportation and time constraints.

“We are trying to serve the populations that have been marginalized, and that they have different barriers to health care,” Baltazar Corona said. “The most important one is transportation barriers. That’s our goal, to try to go where the need is and serve the people that do not have access to health care.”

Sentara Mobile Care will make weekly stops at the Church of the Nazarene, providing full service primary care. Moving forward, it will add regular visits to the Lucy F. Simms Center and other locations through Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

“The plan is to have two locations per day, one location in the morning and a second location in the afternoon,” Baltazar Corona said. “We’re going to do health screenings, and see new patients, follow up patients, and sick patients.”

Sentara Mobile Care is working toward removing barriers in accessing health care. Community health workers will assist in identifying people who are food insecure, need assistance filling out forms to apply for Medicaid, and share information on diabetes care and other chronic diseases. The goal is to reach people with the help they need and provide resources and assistance.

“Right now, we are participating in meetings, listening to different voices in the community, and making sure that we are connecting with these people,” Baltazar Corona continued. “We want to bring these services to these communities where we identify the biggest needs.”

Sentara has used the innovative model of care to improve health outcomes in other Virginia communities, including Hampton Roads, where the greatest needs and largest gaps in health care exist. For more information, visit online or call 540-564-5880.