Enlarge Clients wait their turn for shots at the Presbyterian Community Care Cruiser in Huntersville.

Posted: November 24th, 2009 Tonya Jameson

Gabriel Rodriguez, 12, was shy about being videotaped while getting a flu shot. Afterward he was brave and smiling.

“It wasn’t that bad,” he said, standing inside the Presbyterian Community Care Cruiser stationed at the Solomon House, in Huntersville on Nov. 24.

Gabriel and other youth received flu shots, vaccinations and other health services at the mobile health clinic. The clinic’s staff provides health care to uninsured and under-insured youth in the Charlotte community.

The cruiser is a big fancy truck, reminiscent of a moving van, but it's tricked out with two exam areas, a sink, computer and even a waiting area with a DVD player and headphones.

On Monday, it was parked behind the Solomon House, which provides advocacy, information and referrals to community health resources, in Huntersville. The mobile clinic marked its two-year anniversary this week. To celebrate patients on Monday received $20 Food Lion gift cards and cupcakes.

A $16,000 grant from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Foundation to the Presbyterian Hospital Foundation also provides support for the mobile clinic. In its first year, the clinic served more than twice the number of youth it was predicted to serve. It has now served more than 3,200 patients.

The clinic also has a Spanish interpreter. Each week the clinic visits designated locations, typically churches, in Mecklenburg, Union and Rowan counties.

Click here for a schedule and more info.

Tweet

Previous Page