WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- The River Valley Health and Dental Center in Williamsport will start providing care on wheels.
The 40-foot long mobile care unit will hit the streets of Lycoming County in the coming weeks. The River Valley Health and Dental Center christened the new care facility on wheels earlier this week.
"We're extraordinarily excited about the unit. It gives us the opportunity to meet the needs of the community," said Jim Yoxtheimer, president and CEO of River Valley Health and Dental Center.
The unit will provide dental and medical service to those in rural areas that do not have the time or opportunity to visit the care center in Williamsport.
"Transportation is a little bit of a challenge in our area and people even having the opportunity to get off work and come for a medical or dental exam. All of those things represent barriers to care," Yoxtheimer said.
"At this point, a lot of our population is focused in the Williamsport area, the close area, so this unit will allow us to reach the outside pockets of the county," said grants manager Jackie Oliva.
The care unit's main priority will be serving local school districts.
In the past, River Valley Health and Dental Center would have to bus kids from schools to their office, but thanks to the new mobile unit, they can treat kids on-site without pulling them from classes for an extended period.
"I'm really excited about it," said South Williamsport Superintendent Mark Stamm. "First of all, it is an up-to-date lab that is right on site that we can run the kids through with general screenings plus preventative care and do dental work that the kids need."
The First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania's $400,000 grant that made this mobile care unit possible.