(WGHP) -- There are many reasons why some people put off going to the doctor – it takes too long, the office is too far, or maybe those visits cause anxiety.
A family physician’s house calls are giving people comfort and convenience.
Dr. Zoe Stallings’ MUST Clinic is eliminating barriers that often cause people to put their health on the back burner.
Her patients don’t have to worry about driving to a doctor’s office. She brings the exam table to them.
“We're going back in time. You know back in the day doctors used to kind of pull up in that horse and buggy and see people at home. Grandma was sick, they'd come by. I'm doing something similar but with all the technology,” she said.
The MUST Clinic or Mobile Urgent Specialized Treatment Clinic is a customized van designed to accommodate routine physicals, screenings, urgent care, and vaccinations.
“I started practicing in 2013 here in North Carolina and I've worked for big health systems since that time, and during the pandemic, I just kept thinking nothing stopped with our health. We just had to close our doors,” Stallings said.
“So, diabetes kept going, gout still was an issue, and I really wanted to still go into the community so that people knew that your health care is a must.”
The clinic officially hit the road in October 2020.
Stallings and medical assistant Delores Gaddy say the clinic puts people at ease.
“It means so much because of what we do with our patients. They're not just our patients. They're like family, they're like friends,” Gaddy said.
“With the demographics of this area in the Triad, I think people just wanted to see someone who looked like them,” Stallings said.
Aside from MUST Clinic, the van itself has a name.
Stallings refers to it as Henrietta in honor of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whose cancer cells are a significant part of medical research.
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