Mayo’s new mobile health clinic to open soon in BP

It took more than a year, but Blooming Prairie residents once again have a place to access medical care.
Beginning this week, Mayo Clinic Health System’s new mobile health clinic will travel to Blooming Prairie every other Tuesday and Thursday, with office hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will be parked outside the ambulance building at 501 Fourth St. SE.; appointments are required.
Mayo officially closed its clinics in Blooming Prairie and Kenyon after not renewing lease agreements with the cities at the end of 2020, though patients hadn’t been seen at those sites since March 2020. The mobile clinic will open in Kenyon on June 28, and be there every other Monday and Wednesday.
Members of the Blooming Prairie City Council toured the mobile health clinic before their June council meeting.
The 39-foot-long “office” contains two exam rooms; an on-site laboratory, complete with medical-grade freezers and refrigerator, as well as a blood-draw chair; and a workstation for staff to register patients and schedule future appointments.
So why come back now?
“We have a commitment to (health care in) rural communities,” said Dr. Jennifer Horn, regional chair of clinical practice, “but we haven’t found the right model yet. Hopefully, this is it.”
The new clinic will offer acute illness care, preventative services, screenings, immunizations, prenatal visits, pediatric care, and medication refills and checks. It will be staffed by three people – the same people every visit, Horn said, describing them as “a dedicated group that will be cross-trained to provide all disciplines of care.”
That includes a physician assistant, a nurse and the driver – who will also register patients and coordinate additional or ongoing care, she said. Patients’ health information and records will be available onsite as well.
The continuity of staff is important, Horn said. “I’m a family doctor, and that’s the kind of care I would want.”
The clinic also has the technology and equipment to connect patients virtually through video appointments with Mayo experts. Things like pacemaker checks, specialty consultations and follow-ups, and prenatal visits will be conducted via telemedicine.
“From our experience during the pandemic, we know that our patients are open to new, more convenient ways of receiving care,” Horn said. “Our goal is to use digital technologies to make Mayo Clinic care more accessible to our patients, no matter where they live.”
The mobile unit runs on a lithium-ion battery – no noisy generators fueling the equipment – and has three different telecommunication provider antennas to provide a seamless connection and a mobile hotspot. The mobile clinic visits are priced the same as any other MCHS clinic location.
The physician assistant at the mobile clinic is based in Austin, so the person may already be a familiar face to patients, said Dr. Jason Wray-Raabolle, the site physician lead who works in Owatonna.
“We are so excited to be working with you and the community partners to bring you this opportunity,” he said during a formal presentation at the city council meeting. More accessible health care has always been the goal, “but the pandemic accelerated the work.”
There will be a learning curve for everyone, Horn said.
“It’s very important for us to get feedback in case things need to change,” she said – anything from patient volume to a dedicated waiting area. For now, patients can wait outside the mobile unit under an awning or in their cars.
“We have a lot of flexibility” to make any necessary adjustments, Horn said.
“We’re all-in,” Wray-Raabolle said. “We want to make this work.”
In other city council business:
·      Members approved the 2020 audit presentation of findings, which included an “overall healthy” general fund, said Erin Enstad, an audit manager with Abdo, Eick and Meyer. The city’s tax rate is a bit higher than others comparatively sized, but the tax per capita is lower than most cities of the same size and less than other cities in Steele County. The majority of the city’s expenses are dedicated to public safety.
·      Approved the city’s participation in Toward Zero Deaths, a national enforcement initiative of traffic regulations including DWI, seatbelt laws, distracted driving and speeding. Overtime costs incurred by Blooming Prairie officers for their work with the program will be reimbursed through a grant.