Montgomery County is expanding health services to the underserved upcounty area through a mobile health clinic that’s available to residents, according to local officials.
On Thursday, county officials and health advocates gathered outside the Poolesville United Methodist Church to celebrate the official opening of the clinic that is traveling to parts of the county where there are limited physicians. The goal is to improve health outcomes for underserved residents, according to the officials and advocates.
“We are saying to every resident of Montgomery County, regardless of income, location or circumstance, that you deserve care,” said Katie Longbrake, executive director of Western Upper Montgomery County Help (WUMCO), a Poolesville-based nonprofit that aims to increase access to resources for community members who live in some parts of the upcounty.
The organization partnered with the county on the launch of the mobile health clinic, which is run by the county’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The clinic recently began providing medical, mental health and social services to county residents, and will also be offering dental care starting in July.
Both insured and uninsured county residents are eligible to receive services at the mobile clinic, which has two examination rooms. Appointments are not required, but potential patients must bring proof of identity, such as a driver’s license, and proof of county residency, such as a lease or utility bill.
According to Dr. Christopher Rogers, head of public health services for DHHS, the clinic’s mission is to “alleviate health disparities by traveling around Montgomery County to deliver integrated medical, dental, behavioral health and human services to underserved, vulnerable, hard-to-reach communities.”
Rogers said during Thursday’s event that the clinic has already provided services to nearly 2,000 individuals. “This is a clear testament to the need for this kind of response and community-based care,” he said.
Services provided at the clinic include general physical exams, blood pressure checks, treatment for respiratory concerns, some reproductive health services and the administration of flu vaccines.
Answering the need
The concept for the clinic was introduced in 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic by DHHS staff members. County Executive Marc Elrich (D) said at Thursday’s event that he was “all in” to support the mobile health clinic.
“You hear all the time about patients who can’t travel, and we particularly hear from Poolesville [residents] that the length of time you have to travel, if you have to use public transportation, how just ridiculously long it takes to get to anything,” Elrich said.
The need for the clinic, officials say, is evident despite the county’s recent ranking as the healthiest county in Maryland and as among the healthiest in the country, outranking other jurisdictions in life expectancy, vaccination rates and more.
That’s because of situations such as those in a recent county report that illustrated that health disparities persist between white residents and Black and Hispanic county residents.
The report notes, for example, that the incidence of heart disease among county residents has decreased over time despite a spike in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emergency room visit rates for heart disease have also dropped over the time covered in the report, with the county consistently reporting lower rates than the state.
However, the report also notes that Black residents had the highest heart disease mortality and emergency room visit rates among all racial groups in the county.
Poolesville Town Commissioner James Brown said during Thursday’s celebration these disparities also occur in the upper parts of the county, where there are fewer physicians.
“What community wants to lead the league in early deaths? None. That’s a terrible statistic,” Brown said. “The work that’s [been done] to get us this van, that’s going to help take care of that.”
County Councilmember Marilyn Balcombe (D-Dist. 2), whose district includes Poolesville, said it’s important to “not forget about” residents of the upcounty region.
“Geography matters, and many people who live up here live at least 15 miles away from a doctor or a dentist. If you don’t have transportation … it’s impossible to reach health care from this area,” Balcombe said. “People in Poolesville and in the Ag Reserve demand and deserve the same services as the entire county.”
A schedule for the mobile health clinic’s stops can be viewed here.
