For Lake County Health Officer Dr. Chandana Vavilala, the new mobile health clinic is a game changer to improve health outcomes across the county.
“We believe it’s a major step to make the preventative services more accessible for Lake County residents,” Vavilala said at Friday’s ribbon cutting for the mobile clinic. “By taking our services directly to the neighborhoods, schools, as well as community centers and ensuring people get resources they need there. we can break barriers to care, support school health also preventative care close to home and provide health education to people of all ages.
“We strongly believe transportation and bus schedules should not prevent people from accessing health care. The clinic is (meant) to eliminate these barriers and bring essential services directly to every zip code and every area.”
Attendees got to walk through the mobile clinic, which includes an exam room and a blood draw station. Vavilala said the mobile clinic cost around $250,000, which was paid for out of the $4.87 million in state funding the health department received as part of the Health First Indiana initiative, which was created in 2023 by the Indiana legislature. Vavilala said Lake County Health Department staff visited Plymouth and Porter County to see how their units work.
Vavilala said now that the clinic is up and running the health department will post on social media where the clinic will be traveling as well as give residents the chance to request the mobile clinic to come to their communities.
“We will closely work with schools, closely work with the community center, medical providers, as well as the local organizations to ensure our clinic reaches those with the greatest need and the right services at each community,” Vavilala said.
Former Gov. Eric Holcomb pitched Health First Indiana as a way to improve the overall health of Hoosiers, an area where the state consistently ranks among the worst in the nation.
As of June 2024, the state rate of children under 3 years old receiving the recommended vaccine series is 59.1% and the Lake County rate is 43%, which ranks the county at 89 out of 92 counties.
The state infant mortality rate is 6.8% the county rate is 7.26%, and the state adult obesity rate is 43.6% while the county rate is 44.7%, according to the scorecard.
The state smoking rate during pregnancy is 6.6% while the county rate is 3.8%, and the state rate for smoking is 21% and the county rate is 18.6%. The state suicide rate is 15.77% while the county rate is 12.3%, according to the scorecard.
Many of the department’s community partners were present at the clinic’s launch, including Purdue Extension Nutrition Service, Gary Harm Reduction, Tobacco Free — Lake County, Mental Health America, St. John Fire Department, and Franciscan Health’s Prenatal Assistance Program.
One of Health First Indiana’s particular areas of focus has been improving infant and maternal mortality rates, particularly among Black women. A’onesty Cross and Jackie Carter are Community Health Prenatal Care Coordinators with Franciscan, with Cross focusing on the education component and Carter gathering and reporting the data to the state.
Cross said the program ensures that pregnant moms have a doctor, insurance, and perinatal education, which focuses on safe and healthy habits and advocating for yourself. Once babies are born, the moms are educated on putting baby to sleep safely and car seat safety. They have access to a diaper pantry and a clinical therapist for moms, free of charge, she said.
“We make sure they have wraparound services,” Cross said. “We want to see all babies reach their first birthday.”
Carter works with the state’s Fetal Infant Mortality Review Team, which implements ways to educate moms to avoid future infant deaths. Recently, she said they’ve seen an uptick in sleeping-related deaths, so Carter and the team have discussed with moms how important it is to put baby “alone, on their back and in a crib,” Cross said.
Lake County Commissioner Michael Repay, D-Hammond, said the mobile clinic is one way to provide health care “wherever it is (needed).”
“I think there are identifiable metrics that we can see the positive results of the (Health First Indiana) investment,” Repay said. “I think today we have more or less anecdotal positive events occurring from it, but I want evidence and I believe we’ll get it. I think we’re doing good work, it just needs to be measured and I hope that the state understands that and continues to support the programs in Lake County.”
