DYK? Windsor-Essex has a walk-in clinic on wheels

Healthcare leaders hopeful they can keep it going for the long haul.

The Mobile Medical Support (MMS) truck is staffed with seven nurses who drive around Windsor and Essex County to be closer to patients.

“Whether its wound care, foot care, health assessments, everyone sort of has their own little pocket to make sure that we can provide that well-rounded care to everyone we serve,” Amanda Willms told CTV News Friday.

Willms is the director of community outreach for MMS, which launched in September 2022.

Since then, Willms says they’ve parked their truck in 100 locations, seeing 1,500 patients.

“28 per cent of them had said that they would have attended an ED (emergency room) for their health care if MMS had not been there and been available to provide care for them,” according to Willms.

Further, their staff have been able to secure a spot for 78 per cent of their clients with a family doctor.

“We have the ability to go right to where clients are,” said Willms. “So we’re not only identifying a need but we're also able to identify a solution for that need.”

Willms says clients don’t even need a health card to access their services and staff will look at the clients entire health, not just what brings them in.

“We will triage, do health assessments, provide care and then we will also follow up in that particular moment and set them up with a specialist, with primary care, with whatever is needed,” said Willms.

Sherrill Bachan can attest to that level of care first hand.A nurse checks Kaleb Buchan’s cast inside the Mobile Medical Support clinic in Windsor, Ont. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor)

Her son, Kaleb, 7, broke his finger playing soccer at school.

They drove to three different walk-in clinics in the city and each one was either closed or not open that day, even though their websites indicated they would be.

“It was pretty frustrating, especially when they say they're open and they're not,” said Bachan.

She told CTV News she follows MMS on Facebook and so she checked their schedule and decided it was worth a try.

Bachan is grateful she did.

“Walaa [the nurse practioner] was able to take care of Kaleb within 20 minutes,” said Bachan. “We were in and we were out.”

The nurse did triage the broken finger, put a splint on it, and wrote up referrals for an X-ray and plastics consultation for a cast.

Bachan did have to take Kaleb to the ER for a cast, but she said they were done within two hours, versus the five hour wait advertised on the hospital website.

“I was able to go back to work [because of] the mobile clinic,” said Bachan. “Where as if I would have been (just) in the ER, I probably would have lost a whole day of work.”

The government of Ontario provided funding for MMS but it was one-time only.

Local healthcare leaders are hoping the early success of the clinic will entice the ministry to continue funding it year after year.

“We have to look at doing things outside of the box (and) being creative,” said Neelu Sehgal the outgoing Director of Community Outreach for MMS. “And that's exactly what we did with this mobile medical unit. We created an environment (where) we address all of the needs when you walk through that door not just one need.”