SEMO's health RV going back on the road this weekend

When the SHOW Mobile, a traveling health unit, hits the road Saturday, it will have some new staff.

Through a partnership announced Wednesday, Southeast Missouri State University will team with Southeast Missouri Hospital to administer services.

The university will continue to provide a driver and administrative support and pay for operational expenses. The hospital will provide staff.

"We won't have to change the name of the project," university president Dr. Ken Dobbins joked at a news conference. "It now refers to the university and the hospital."

Southeast Health On Wheels, or the SHOW Mobile, is a 38-foot converted RV. On board is equipment for dental services, medical screenings and treatment, and educational programs. The unit travels to some of the poorest counties in the state to bring health care to those who don't have the means to visit a hospital.

The mobile unit began operation in July 2006, staffed by the university. But by January 2007 the enterprise was halted, as the university couldn't attract a dentist and a nurse practitioner quit. The unit remained out of operation until the summer, when a short-lived partnership with SEMO Health Network was forged.

Bobbi Morris, the director of the SHOW Mobile and a member of the university's nursing department, said she is not sure why the relationship with SEMO Health Network did not last. But she said she hopes the unit's staffing problems are a thing of the past.

However, while the hospital will provide a nurse and nurse practitioner, a dentist has yet to be hired.

"We are continuing to explore opportunities. We could partner with area dentist or recruit dentists to the area," she said.

Originally the unit served Pemiscot, Dunklin, Mississippi and New Madrid counties. But with the new partnership and the help of a federal grant, the project will expand to other counties in the 8th Congressional District in Missouri. The district spans from south of St. Louis to the Missouri-Arkansas border.

Interns from the College of Health and Human Services will complete clinicals on the mobile. The hospital will process payment for services.

"Our mission is to provide education but to also see the university as a catalyst for economic and social development," Dobbins said.

The university received a $375,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2007. The three-year grant will cover salaries for the SHOW Mobile.

On Saturday, the unit will travel to Charleston, Mo. Typically the RV parks in the parking lots of churches, community centers or grocery stores. A schedule of the SHOW Mobile's upcoming locations and dates is expected to be announced soon.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

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