Neighborhood Health Center celebrated expanded access to primary care services during National Health Center Week and held a ribbon cutting event for its mobile healthcare bus – the Health in Motion Mobile Unit – on Thursday, August 8. 

Neighborhood first began seeing patients on the bus back in 2019 as a partnership with Say Yes Buffalo, Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York, the John R. Oishei Foundation, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, and Buffalo Public Schools. Through that partnership, the Neighborhood team provided healthcare services on the bus for students at Buffalo Public Schools campuses and Say Yes summer camps. Neighborhood did not own the bus though. That changed recently, thanks to a grant from the New York State Department of Health. Now that Neighborhood has purchased the bus and given it a fresh new look, it's adding community events to the Health in Motion Mobile Unit’s schedule, in addition to the Buffalo Public Schools and Say Yes events. The community events open up access to care for Western New Yorkers of all ages. No one is turned away for inability to pay.

“Removing barriers to care and making healthcare kinder and more patient-centered is what Neighborhood Health Center has always been about,” said Neighborhood Health Center President and CEO Joanne Haefner, FNP. “The flexibility the mobile unit gives us to bring care to where it’s needed is one more way we’re removing barriers as we work toward a healthier and more equitable Western New York.”

The Health in Motion Mobile Unit is outfitted with two exam rooms, like those found in traditional medical offices. At community events, the care team on Neighborhood’s Health in Motion Mobile Unit can offer primary care visits the same as in a typical office visit, as well as immunizations and preventive screenings, COVID-19 testing and vaccines, health education and risk prevention counseling, and referrals to community resources or specialty treatment providers. The mobile unit provides opportunities to reach people experiencing homelessness and rural areas where people may have difficulties accessing care.

The ribbon-cutting celebration for the Health in Motion Mobile Unit was held at Neighborhood Health Center Blasdell, 4233 Lake Avenue. NYS Senator Patrick Gallivan, NYS Assemblymember Jon Rivera, Governor Kathy Hochul’s Regional Representative Bonnie Kane Lockwood, and Marie Mongeon from the Community Health Care Association of NYS helped cut the ribbon. The celebration was part of the activities taking place throughout National Health Center Week (August 5-9) at Neighborhood Health Center locations.