Mobile care clinic launched in Nipissing District

A converted Mercedes-Benz cargo van will soon hit the road as a mobile care clinic in North Bay.

The District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board is partnering with the Nipissing Wellness Ontario Health Team to bring mobile health care to people who need it.

A revamped 2024 Mercedes-Benz sprinter 2500 cargo van will soon be on the road, operating as a mobile care clinic.

Designed to replicate a clinical setting, it will allow health care to reach every corner of the district.

“This thing is a dream,” said Wendy Smith, executive director of the wellness health team.

“We can help those that maybe don’t have a way to come in to get care. We’re going to bring the care to them.”

It’s called the Clinical Access Mobile Partner – or CAMP for short. It arrived in December at the paramedic services department, ready for road use.

While not an ambulance, the CAMP will help with community paramedicine. The administration side of this project is still in its development phase.

“One of the unique aspects of this program is its state of self-sustainability,” said Stephen Kirk, chief of paramedic services.

“It is solar-powered backup. We’ve got 72-plus hours of self-sustainability. That’s what really makes it a useful resource.”

The mobile clinic aims to reduce hospital wait times, help those without a family doctor and people suffering from mental health and addictions.

It is equipped with a cardiac monitor, diagnostic tools for ultrasound, a bladder scanner, doppler and can be used for point-of-care testing like blood chemistry, urinalysis, A1C screening, INR testing and blood glucose.

And it includes other standard medical tools.

“It is a new vehicle to our fleet,” Kirk said.

“We’re just understanding some of the intricacies of that.”

The full cost will be covered by Ontario Health-funded community paramedic programs. The wellness team drew inspiration from a mobile clinic in the Algoma District.

“The clinic is going to be managed and driven by our colleagues with the paramedics. They will be the sort of ones in charge of the vehicle,” Smith added.

“It’s up to all of our organizations across the city to put clinicians and other allied health professionals on the vehicle to go out to different sites.”

The clinic, which will hit the streets in a matter of days, also has the capability to serve as a command centre for large medical events.