Rural Project Examples Addressing Mobile and episodic healthcare delivery

Updated/reviewed March 2026

Need: To increase access to medical screening for miners in New Mexico.
Intervention: A mobile screening clinic with telemedicine capability screens miners for respiratory and other conditions.
Results: In a survey, 92% of miners reported their care as very good, while the other 8% reported it as good. The program has expanded to three other states.

Updated/reviewed March 2026

Need: The results of a 2013 county need assessment revealed that increased healthcare access would benefit the low resource areas of rural Hardin County, Ohio.
Intervention: With grant awards that included a 2015-2018 federal grant and in collaboration with local healthcare delivery systems, a rurally-located university pharmacy program's faculty and doctoral learners brought regularly scheduled pharmacist-led mobile clinic health services — ONU HealthWise Mobile Clinic — to the low resource areas of Hardin County, Ohio.
Results: In the decade since the original grant award, pharmacist-led mobile healthcare services' continued success has led to an expanded operation with a dual focus of providing both rural healthcare services and a setting to train rural practice-ready pharmacists. Additionally, interprofessional experiences for other healthcare profession learners have been added. In 2025, state-granted financial support allowed growth to include the purchase of a second vehicle expanding community pharmacy and telehealth services in surrounding rural counties.

Updated/reviewed April 2025

Need: Lack of access to oral healthcare for children from limited-income families in the rural and urban areas of South Dakota.
Intervention: Delta Dental of South Dakota launched the Delta Dental Mobile Program in 2004 to expand access to oral healthcare services to children throughout the rural state.
Results: The Delta Dental Mobile Program has provided over $44 million in dental care to more than 73,000 South Dakota children.

Added December 2024

Need: To provide basic pregnancy-related and preventive health services to women in the Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Intervention: A mobile clinic travels to different communities and provides basic preventive care, contraception, and pregnancy testing and ultrasounds.
Results: Since the program began, clinical staff have provided services to nearly 6,000 women.

Updated/reviewed October 2024

Need: Critical Access Hospitals in Idaho were not able to afford a fixed MRI system.
Intervention: The hospitals partnered to purchase a mobile MRI unit to travel among facilities.
Results: The MRI unit went into service in 2012, providing hundreds of scans per month and traveling among six member hospitals in rural Idaho.

Added August 2024

Need: To increase access to preventive dental care among children living in rural Arizona.
Intervention: A nonprofit organization formed to offer free, school-based preventive dental services to children in two rural Arizona counties.
Results: Throughout the 2023-24 school year, Tooth B.U.D.D.S. provided preventive services to 1,710 students in rural Graham and Greenlee Counties. Program staff use a telehealth platform to connect children to local dentists for follow-up care.

Added November 2023

Need: To fill gaps in care for rural communities in southeastern Virginia while providing clinical placement opportunities for nursing students.
Intervention: A free mobile health clinic staffed by Old Dominion University nursing students that visits rural schools and other community centers.
Results: Hundreds of students have gained hands-on rural experience working in the clinic since its launch.

Rural Project Examples: Mobile and episodic healthcare delivery