While visiting Lions in other states two of the Oklahoma City Downtown Lions club members, Robert E. Lee and the late Joe Blair, saw the inner workings of mobile health screening units. They brought home the dream of having one in the State of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Lions Mobile Health Screening Unit (MHSU) started with the OKC Downtown Lions Club and the Tulsa Downtown Lions Club. Each donated $7,500 to start the $186,000 needed to obtain a unit. Lions Clubs International Foundation gave $50,000 and individual Lion members and other Lions clubs made up the difference.
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Oklahoma and Integris Health also sponsored the unit’s operating costs and are still a major donor. The MHSU travels statewide and with the help of local Lions and medical professionals.
The Oklahoma City Community Foundation Mobile Health Wellness Clinic
In 2019, Integris Health and the Oklahoma Lions Service Foundation received a grant from the Oklahoma City Community Foundation
for a pilot mobile wellness clinic. This mobile clinic is staffed with Integris Physician Assistants, Nurses, Case Managers, Dietitians, and support staff to help address the issues that the indigent population of Oklahoma City face. The program focuses on the following zip codes: 73111,73114,73119,73109,73129, and 73159. Through consistent patient support and healthcare access these individuals will experience improved health and well-being.
Federal studies reveal the number of Oklahomans without health insurance has fallen by six (6) percent since 2010 and continues to decline today. The Oklahoma Poverty rate is at a 10-year high of 16.7 percent. The United States Census Bureau shows that the number of those in poverty directly correlates to those individuals without healthcare (https://stateimpact.npr.org/oklahoma/tag/poverty).
The Mobile Clinic focuses on the four key health risks that lead to heart disease, blood pressure, body mass index, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels. Individuals receive wellness handouts providing information on healthy living, self efficiency, and behavioral health. .