Reuben’s blood sugar was 565 when he met Nurse Practitioner Keisha Nesbit, a member of Advance Community Health’s mobile health team. It should never be over 150, maybe 180 if he’d just eaten, but definitely not 565. And he hadn’t eaten anything.
“She looked at those numbers, and she became very concerned about my health,” Reuben recalled. “I hadn’t had anybody even talk to me that way in a very long time.”
The Mobile Health Unit came to his church during a giveaway event a few months ago, offering free blood pressure and blood sugar screenings. Reuben decided to get checked, though he suspected what the results would show. “I kind of felt that it would be high. It had been a while. I wasn’t working at one point. And even when I started working, I couldn’t afford the insurance. It had been a while since I’ve had my diabetes medication, Manjaro and Farsiga, two things that I do need that do help control my diabetes.”
What happened next changed his health journey. “She did what she could to make sure I was able to at least get a month’s supply of the medications that I needed, and after that one month, my numbers were looking so much better,” Reuben said. “I’m extremely grateful for her and grateful that I actually met her, because if not for her, I probably would be hospitalized now.”
This is exactly what Advance Community Health’s Mobile Health program was designed to do: meet people where they are, identify critical health needs, and connect them to life-saving care.
Building Bridges Through Partnership
“Our mobile health program is really about meeting people where they are, whether that’s a shelter, a school, a church, or a community space,” explained Mobile Health Director, Rachel Wiggs, MPH. “We provide health screenings and primary care services, and we help connect people to ongoing care within our organization.”
However, the mobile health team can’t be everywhere at once. That’s where partnerships become essential. “Partnerships are a huge part of that,” Wiggs said. “They allow us to be in spaces where people already feel comfortable and supported, which helps remove barriers like transportation, trust, and awareness. Without those partnerships, we wouldn’t be able to reach as many people or have the same level of impact in the community.”
Each partnership looks different depending on the community’s needs. “At the Women’s Center, we provide primary care and behavioral health services, including telepsychiatry, for women experiencing homelessness,” Wiggs shared. “At the Salvation Army, we offer both health screenings and scheduled appointments, typically in the evenings to better reach working individuals. With Raleigh Rescue Mission, we have more structured clinic days for physicals, follow-ups, and ongoing care.”
The partnerships extend beyond homeless services. “We also partner with schools to provide sports physicals and with libraries to offer screenings and health education,” Wiggs added. “Each partnership is tailored, but the goal is always to make care more accessible and consistent.”
A Partnership That Transforms Lives: Sir Walter Apartments
At Sir Walter Apartments in downtown Raleigh, our mobile health has become a lifeline for senior residents. Marsha Smitley, Executive Director of Postscript Outreach, witnessed firsthand the challenges seniors faced accessing healthcare before the mobile team started coming.
“We sit and have conversations, and we hear them talk about how hard it is,” Smitley explained. “You know, they have to get up at four o’clock in the morning, get ready, walk down the street to the bus station, and a lot of times, depending on where their doctor is, it takes two or three stops with the bus to get to where they’re going. So it’s an all-day event just to go to the doctor.”
The connection between Postscript Outreach and Advance Community Health came through Anne Burlingame at Wake County Public Library. “She told us about what you’re doing, and we knew that that was a need,” Smitley recalled.
Now, every other week, the Mobile Health Unit comes directly to Sir Walter Apartments, providing access to care for residents. “What helps them with having the mobile unit come here is that they can just walk out and see a doctor or get their blood pressure checked or whatever they need done, instead of having to travel so far on a bus and it takes up an entire day,” Smitley said.
The impact goes far beyond convenience. “It helps them to be more regular with their health care, because they know you’re going to be here every other week, and they can come here, they can see you, they can get checked,” Smitley noted. “They’re more apt to actually see a doctor because you’re coming here. A lot of times they will just let things go because it’s too much trouble to go.”
The mobile team doesn’t just provide medical care; they also provide dignity and relationships. “I’ve also heard that you guys do take time and you talk to them and they feel seen, they feel known, and they build that relationship over time as they’re coming and seeing the same people over and over,” Smitley said. “So there’s also that comfort level that happens, and I think that’s really important.”
She recounted an example: “We’ve had a few this year that knew they had some kind of an infection or something, and they were like, ‘I need to get an antibiotic. I know I need to go get this.’ And they walked out there, they saw the doctor, and they were like, ‘Oh, he gave me a prescription.’ They were so excited that they saw the doctor and that they got their medication filled immediately.”
What Makes Partnerships Successful
Two partnerships stand out as particularly impactful: the Women’s Center and the Raleigh Rescue Mission.
“At the Women’s Center, we provide both primary care and behavioral health services, including telepsychiatry,” the director explained. “What makes that impactful is the consistency. We’re able to show up regularly in a space where women already feel safe and supported and provide ongoing care instead of just one-time services.”
With the Raleigh Rescue Mission, the impact extends beyond immediate care. “It’s been impactful because we’re able to see patients while they’re in the program, and then once they graduate, we transition them into one of our clinic locations to continue their care,” Wiggs explained. “We also have a dedicated day each month where we bring children into the clinic for pediatric services.”
The common thread? “What makes both of these partnerships work so well is the structure, and consistency,” Wiggs emphasized. “It really allows us to meet patients where they are, while also making sure they stay connected to care long-term.”
Smitley uses a metaphor to describe why partnerships matter. “If you’ve ever watched Shrek, we all have layers,” she said. “We meet one layer of their need, and that is the social connection. We all need social connection to live healthy. Partnering with Advance Community Health helps us to go even deeper as we uncover needs, health needs that they have.” (In a bubble)
Addressing Critical Needs
The work goes deeper than individual services. “We’re addressing a lot of chronic conditions, like hypertension and diabetes, but also something more basic…access to care. Many of the individuals we see don’t have a primary care provider.”
The team also serves as a bridge to comprehensive care. “We help connect patients to insurance options, sliding fee scale programs, and additional services, like behavioral health or specialty care,” Wiggs explained. “So it’s not just about that one visit; it’s about getting people connected to ongoing care.”
For Smitley and the residents at Sir Walter, the mobile health team addresses challenges that go beyond medical needs. Smitley said transportation is a huge barrier for a lot of older residents. “Especially if there’s bad weather, if it’s really hot, you’re out there sitting at a bus station or a bus stop, if it’s cold, if it’s raining, all those things are a hindrance.”
She continued: “Those of us who can just get in our car and turn on the heat or the air and drive to the doctor, be there a little bit, come back home, go on about your business, but it truly is an all-day event, and it wears them out. When you’re older, you just don’t feel like doing all that, and so you’re more apt to ignore things, let it go until it’s really serious.”
The mobile health team also addresses safety concerns. “I think it helps to eliminate some fear,” Smitley said. “It’s scary to walk out there, to have to go to the bus station, and there’s a lot of crazy stuff going on out there in the world, and to be vulnerable walking down the street as a senior, having to catch that bus, go somewhere, travel all day, deal with weather. All those things are eliminated with you guys coming here.”
The Challenge of Growth and New Partnerships
As word spreads about the mobile health program, demand has outpaced capacity. “As the program continues to grow, one of the biggest challenges is that we’re getting more requests than we can realistically support at one time,” Wiggs acknowledged. “We can’t be everywhere, even though the need is definitely there.”
This requires strategic thinking. “We’ve had to be more intentional about how we grow, looking at where the need is greatest, which partnerships align most with our mission and where we can have the most long-term impact,” Wiggs explained.
Despite capacity challenges, the mobile health program continues to expand strategically. “We’ve recently started a new partnership at New Bern Crossing Apartment Complex in collaboration with Families Together, which we’re really excited about,” Wiggs shared. “It allows us to reach residents directly where they live and expand access in that community.”
The program is also growing in Franklin County. “Overall, we’re continuing to look for ways to expand into communities with high need and limited access, while building strong partnerships that allow us to provide consistent, ongoing care,” Wiggs said.
Looking Forward
Back at that church giveaway, Reuben’s life changed because the mobile health team showed up. His blood sugar of 565 could have led to hospitalization, diabetic coma, or worse. Instead, he got the medication he needed, and he’s doing a lot better.
“Thank you. Thank you very much for your help,” Reuben said simply.
Smitley hopes to see the partnership at Sir Walter grow. For the broader community, Smitley has a message about supporting mobile health efforts. “I think it’s important to educate the community on what the need is, because I think a lot of people don’t even think about it,” she said. “They walk by this building every day, and they don’t see that these are true individuals that have stories, that have a life. I think it’s important to bring knowledge to the community and that people support this organization so that it can continue.”
That gratitude echoes across every mobile health partnership, from seniors at Sir Walter who can finally see a doctor without an all-day bus journey, to women experiencing homelessness who receive behavioral health care in a safe space, to working individuals who can get screened in the evening, to children who receive sports physicals at school.
The mobile health program, powered by thoughtful partnerships, is doing exactly what it set out to do: meeting people where they are, removing barriers to care, and connecting individuals to the ongoing support they need to be healthy.
