Mobile unit offers services in county

Waynesboro Family Clinic, a local treatment center that helps people with mental health and substance abuse issues, is taking its services out into the community through its Mobile Care Unit.

The mobile unit is a 38 foot-long recreational vehicle that features two therapy offices, a lobby, a nurse station and a restroom.

Waynesboro partnered with Eastpointe, a managed care organization that works with people in eastern North Carolina struggling with substance abuse, mental health and intellectual and developmental disabilities, to get a federal grant to pay for the mobile unit and provide services to people in need.

"We started taking it out about (several) weeks ago, and we're still developing a schedule," said Don Neal, Waynesboro Family Clinic clinical director. "We're in intense planning right now."

Neal said he's taking the mobile unit into remote areas of the county to provide substance abuse treatment and mental health care to people who are unable to get to the Waynesboro Family Clinic, at 1706 Wayne Memorial Drive.

"We're hoping to go to the remote areas of the county, like tent city and other remote areas of Wayne County, where people wouldn't travel in to us, but we will travel to them," he said.

April DeSelms, Waynesboro Family Clinic assistant clinical director, said the mobile unit will offer a whole array of services for people who wouldn't normally go to a traditional office. The mobile unit is staffed with two full-time employees, a peer support specialist and a registered nurse or clinical nurse specialist.

"There are multiple units that are supposed to travel around the county to be able to provide services to those individuals who don't have transportation and who normally wouldn't come into an office setting," DeSelms said. "The target population is substance users with the idea that of bringing them medication-assisted treatment to them in the community that typically wouldn't come to a traditional office setting."

When someone visits the unit, they will be seen by a social worker and a licensed counselor, who will do an assessment to determine what the needs are and the course of treatment.

"There will be goals that they will work toward and how we're going to help them and things we will put into place to help support them," Neal said. "It's always great if they can have a form of ID, but we're not going to turn anyone away. If they don't have health insurance, we're still going to see them."

People with health insurance should take an insurance card.

"We'll do an assessment that starts with presenting problems, things that are causing them stress in their life that's problematic for them," Neal said.

"Then we'll look at the problems and go through a mental health status checklist, then go to physical history and some background as far as any type of substance use and history of childhood trauma and just do a full assessment. Then we'll do our clinical findings and diagnoses."

The person will be given a telehealth appointment in the mobile care unit with a psychiatrist or a psychiatric nurse practitioner, which they will do on a computer in the RV.

"Our goal is to prevent hospitalization," Neal said. "So many clients have substance abuse and mental health issues, a dual diagnosis. We will not turn someone away if they come to the vehicle, whether it's bipolar, schizophrenia, major depression, a substance use disorder, anything we will treat."

If someone can't afford a prescribed medicine, Waynesboro has an account at some local pharmacies where people can pick up medicines at no cost.

Once someone is seen and given medication, they will receive regular follow-up appointments.

A peer support specialist will work with each person to get them access to other services that are available in Wayne County, like transportation, access to food and other basic needs.

Neal said he hopes to take the Mobile Care Unit out five days a week, seven hours each day.

"We can probably see two people an hour," he said. "So that's maybe 10 people a day or 50 people a week."

The stops for the Mobile Care Unit are still being worked out, Neal said.

Neal can be contacted at 919-734-6676 or 919-920-8061 by anyone who knows of a location where the unit is needed or for more information.

"Our goal is to help people, even if it's one life at a time," Neal said. "We're all about doing whatever it takes to help people."