PROVIDENCE – Women & Infants Hospital’s Community Mobile Health Clinic has hit the road.
The van, staffed by a nurse practitioner and community health worker, is set up to offer a variety of postpartum screenings and support. Patients can get screened for postpartum depression and hypertension, receive contraceptive counseling, as well as contraception if needed. There will be other support services such as mental health and breastfeeding support.
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“We know that structural barriers limit access to care and can have a negative impact on perinatal outcomes. The van allows us to accelerate progress towards improved perinatal health in Rhode Island with the simple act of removing transportation as a barrier to receiving postpartum care,” said Dr. Methodius Tuuli, chair and chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Women & Infants Hospital.
The mobile unit is an extension of the hospital’s Postpartum Hypertension Equity Program, which began in 2022. The program provides blood pressure cuffs and training to patients diagnosed with hypertension before they are discharged. This way, patients can take their blood pressure at home and send readings to a nurse practitioner to review. The hospital says this program has helped reduce patients returning to the emergency department with hypertension-related complications.
The mobile health clinic is funded by a $1 million grant from the CVS Health Foundation that Women & Infants received in 2024. A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony for the van is scheduled for Oct. 22.
Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Castellani@PBN.com.
