I remember seeing a news report some years ago about a geriatrician in Florida who, instead of renting and outfitting a second office, got a large pickup truck and a trailer, and filled the latter with all the instruments and supplies he'd need. Instead of making all his patients come to him, he would go almost all the way to them -- being as close as the curb in front of their houses.

Archbishop Henry Mansell, Hartford, CT uses some of the money sent to the Archbishop's Annual Appeal to fund a moving medical van. It is working great and the second one is in the works. He has also taken a former church owned building and converted it into low cost housing in Hartford. The folks at city hall can't seem to accomplish much to tackle the numerous abandoned buildings in Hartford or address the homeless problem. Citizens working together under good leadership can accomplish much to deal with some of our social ills.

I think this is wonderful..........a lot of us baby boomers cannot get out to go to a doctor as some of us are bedridden. I know of a "mobile" dentist in the Santa Monica, San Fernando Valley, etc., CA area that is mobile........his name is Calman Kurtzman, DDS...(google him for his credentials).....(310) 458-1068......he has been my dentist for 52 years now and I highly recommend him if you live in this area :-)

Was this guy thrown out of his house? Is he living in his van too like Matt Foley?

http://www.hulu.com/watch/4183/saturday-night-live-down-by-the-river

What an excellent concept. After seeing just how many people are showing up for medical care at these free clinics. Thanks to Keith Oberman for pointing out this issue and asking us to donatations for the much needed money to cover the expense for doing thes free clinic all over the United States. Most of the people seeking free care have medical insurance but can not afford the high co-pays or high deductible that is required so then they just do not seek out medical care until their conditions are either an acute and /or chronic medical issue. So it is not just the poor and homeless without medical insurance but some every day folks working at some small business just can not afford to provide health insurance to their employess. Our company just like year dropped providing health insurance to us because it was just too costly. Now no one including the owner have health insurance that use to be provided for the employees for the past 15 years. It is so sad because most of us can not afford to buy insurace on our own because it is too high trying to buy it as an independent contractor. Yet the some of the congressional and senate members have great health insurance that we are paying for. Yet we are not allowed to buy from their insurance pools. This is what the new health care insurance bill should have allowed us to select and buy if we had a chance to do so. It would be cheaper in the long run for us to buy health insurance this way or even buy across state lines. I ask why not were we given this chance to do so. I hope that these health care alliances will provide my employer and other small business owners a chance to buy the same plans at a reasonal cost just like the congressional and members have now. We do not want a hand out we just want a chance to be treated equally and purchase health insurance in a pool to help keep the cost down.

i'm an american who now resides in the UK. the 'doctor in a van' is a common practice in places such as the highlands of scotland, where my husband is from. growing up, the dentist used to come to town once a week in a van, and doctors still make housecalls to people on a weekly or daily basis, including his grandmother, who has been suffering from (and beating) various types of cancer for over 5 years. as we obviously have nationalised healthcare that every working person pays for in this country, this is clearly deserved. the care is just as clean and professional as it would be in an office or hospital, and it affords those who would otherwise have to travel hours for care decent medical treatment, often in the comfort of their homes, which i perceive to be very beneficial for the elderly and infirm. i think this is a wonderful system and really represents what healthcare should be, especially in my home country, where care can be cold and demanding on the patient. i was extremely pleased and proud to read this article, and i'll be passing it on to my relatives in the states.

Great idea. One assumes that staff give out information as well as perform basic tests.