HRSA Clinic gets portable medical unit
The new medical unit is equipped with two exam rooms.
By DANA HERNANDEZ
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL — The Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Health and Human Services received a medical unit that they will be using as a portable clinic that has the capability to be moved, and will be used not only for patients of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also for the upcoming flu and cold season.
Chris Waterhouse, who is the HRSA director, said she considers the unit to be a full and complete unit that will be equipped with two examining rooms. It could be moved to any district if needed, said Waterhouse. Currently, the clinic is waiting for examination tables and other equipment. The unit is not being used until they receive the supplies.
The unit has two examining rooms and one testing room that connects to the patient rooms. Each room is equipped with doors to the outside so patients and doctors don’t use the same door. The unit also has specialized air flow that allows for the safety of the patients and staff. There is also a surveillance system that doctors can use for the safety of their patients.
View of the inside of a testing room.
Waterhouse said, “The unit would allow the HRSA clinic to see patients who are ill and to do so by isolation.”
The unit has been at the HRSA clinic for about a month and half, and Waterhouse said it has been complicated process because of the pandemic shutdown. She said the unit was somewhat her idea after she received informational ideas from the Fort Hall IHS clinic.
She said she wanted something to be prepared for the upcoming flu season. The unit was purchased with funds from the HRSA funding agency, Waterhouse said they did not use any CARES funding from the tribe to help purchase the unit.
