PEORIA, Ill. – On the outside, it looks like a typical passenger bus. But on the inside, a former OSF HealthCare passenger bus has been transformed in to a new mobile medical unit.
It’s for OSF’s “Street Medicine Program” – a sort of mobile exam room that will help serve Peoria’s homeless population.
Doctor Mary Stapel is OSF’s Medical Director of Community Care, and says in the fifteen months the program has been in existence, it’s helped more than just the homeless.
“It’s been transformational, really,” said Stapel. “And, not just for us, but I think for all of the learners and the residents who come out with us. Everyone’s feeling seems to be this is why we went into medicine, and we’d like to do this more.”
Stapel says she hopes the Street Medicine program can eventually expand to things like wound care and more medical consultation.
“The ‘Father of Street Medicine’, [Dr.] Jim Withers, always says, ‘The streets teach us,’” said Stapel. “We let people show us what they need, and how we can best address it. Out of that, we have learned the areas that we can evolve, future directions for the work we’re doing.”
The Street Medicine Program is part of OSF’s Faith Community Nurse Team, which helps provide local homeless with food and clothing, as well as medical services.
The Street Medicine shuttle was blessed Thursday.
