Mobile Outreach Clinic Celebrate
20 Years
Staff Logs More Than 40,000 Miles a Year Providing Care to Patients
and Families
When the Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare Mobile Outreach
Clinic rolls into Mankato on May 10, they will be celebrating 20
years of bringing specialty healthcare services to patients throughout
Minnesota. In 2004, Gillette’s Mobile Outreach Clinic offered
almost 150 clinics in 20 communities throughout greater Minnesota.
The Mobile Outreach
Clinic began in 1985, when seating and bracing specialists at Gillette
realized that many families were frequently coming to the hospital
from communities greater than 50 miles away. The specialists felt
that they could better serve the families by bringing their expertise
to these communities. Gillette’s adaptive
equipment supervisor, Dave Wilkie, loaded some of the tools and supplies
used to repair wheelchairs and braces into the sidecar of his motorcycle
and drove to Windom, Minnesota. The trip became Gillette’s
first Mobile Outreach Clinic visit. The Mobile Outreach Clinic is
now a statewide program serving more than 1,500 children and adults
annually.
Each year, Gillette’s staff put nearly 40,000 miles on three
Mobile Outreach Clinic trucks — while saving families an estimated
275,000 miles in travel. “There are days when all three of
our trucks are on the road, going to different places,” says
Wilkie, now the manager of Assistive Technology Outreach Services. “When
we’re that busy, it’s a good sign that we’re meeting
some significant needs.”
In addition to providing
assistive-technology services such as custom seating, orthotics,
wheelchair modifications, computer access equipment aids, adaptive
recreational equipment and augmentative communication devices,
some clinics offer appointments with Gillette therapists and doctors
who specialize in physical medicine and rehabilitation. “Access
to this array of services relieves the travel burden for families,
enhances communication among patient providers, and allows us to
train community professionals in the use of assistive technology,” says
Wilkie.
Mobile Outreach Clinic celebration dates include: Willmar, May 17;
Alexandria, May 31; Brainerd, June 2; Bemidji, July 12; Detroit Lakes,
July 13; St. Cloud, Sept. 9; Owatonna, Sept. 14; Austin, Sept, 27;
and Fergus Falls, Nov 2.
You’ll find more
information about times and locations at www.gillettechildrens.org. For more information about Mobile Outreach
Clinic services, call 800-578-4266 (toll-free).
