A mobile medical unit to help bring a future COVID-19 vaccine to rural areas of Marshall County got the approval of the county council Friday. County Health Officer Dr. Byron Holm wants to use about $383,000 in federal CARES Act money to purchase a 38-foot Winnebago.
“This is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I have been thinking about,” he told council members. “This is not the first time. I’ve been thinking about this for our department for 15 years: How can we improve the wellness and health of our total community? That’s what this unit is going to be able to do.” The mobile unit would have a central waiting area, two exam rooms, refrigerators, freezers, and the rest of the necessary equipment.
Holm said it would also serve as a mobile COVID-19 testing site. That would allow the health department to serve all the communities in the county, rather than one single location, which Holm said could serve as a model for the rest of the state. “The state, as a matter of fact, even told me upon the arrival of the unit, they want to come up and see how it was put together and everything that we’ve done with it,” Holm said, “and upon that, they granted me another $100,000 just the other day to staff the unit for the COVID testing for the rest of our community, which kind of tells me I think they’re in favor of it, if they’re going to give us that money to do this.”
Holm assured council members that the mobile unit would be heavily used beyond the current pandemic. For one thing, it could take flu shots directly to the Amish population. “I think it’s something that Marshall County will be proud of, and I think it’s something that it will not sit, if I have my way,” Holm added.
Council members said they’d heard concerns from the public about the cost. But they stressed that no county funding would be used, and there are strict limitations on how the CARES Act money can be used. Still, that wasn’t enough to sway Council Member Jack Roose. He said that whether it’s funded by the state or federal government, it’s still coming out of taxpayers’ pockets.
An additional appropriation allowing the county to spend a total of $1,350,000 in CARES Act money was approved by a vote of six-to-one, with Roose opposing.
