National data from Harvard Medical School show that mobile health clinics are money savers that connect people to preventative care and outpatient services. Across the country, mobile clinics have reduced emergency department visits, returned money to communities, and saved lives.
On July 1, MaineHealth launched their very own mobile health clinic, called the CONNECT Outreach Van. The CONNECT (Community Outreach Network Navigation Evidence-based Care and Treatment) Outreach Van is an extension of the important work at the MaineHealth-Preble Street Learning Collaborative, a low-barrier, walk-in clinic for people experiencing homelessness.
Malia Haddock is a Psych Nurse Practitioner and the lead clinician on the CONNECT Outreach Van. Before this role, Malia worked in the Learning Collaborative and the Preble Street Resource Center, now the location of the Elena’s Way Wellness Shelter. Elena’s Way is a 24-hour, service-inclusive, and trauma-informed emergency shelter, serving 40 people of all genders, with complex physical and behavioral health needs, who cannot access any other shelter.
Malia has experience working in social service programs and forming authentic relationships with people experiencing homelessness to deliver trauma-informed, client-centered, and non-stigmatizing care.
The CONNECT Outreach Van will specifically provide low-barrier treatment and services to unhoused patients, suffering from psychiatric and/or substance use disorders, in the greater Portland area. While the Learning Collaborative is a walk-in clinic, MaineHealth’s CONNECT Outreach Van will meet patients where they are on the street, during important periods of transition. This could be after a hospital discharge or after an individual is released from incarceration. Malia, along with another social worker, will provide comprehensive psychiatric care from the van, treating opioid use disorder, providing harm reduction supplies, and meeting basic needs, with toiletries, handwarmers, socks, underwear, etc. The hope is to over time restore trust and build relationships with unhoused patients, getting them to use outpatient services and receive preventive care that will reduce visits to the emergency department and lead to an overall better quality of life.
“There are a lot of very valid reasons why patients are hesitant to access healthcare. Many have long histories of negative experiences with healthcare providers and healthcare systems,” explains Malia. “[The CONNECT Outreach Van] is an opportunity to outreach patients, establish relationships, and restore trust with patients who have complex needs.”
The goal for the CONNECT Outreach Van is to reach roughly 500 individual patients in year one, referring them to community-based social services and healthcare providers for help with long-term needs. The CONNECT Van began serving greater Portland on July 1, and, in the next few weeks, it will begin making regular, scheduled stops, with some flexibility to still accommodate patient needs.
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