A recent grant from the federal government will allow the V.I. Department of Health to purchase two new mobile outreach units to bring health care to the community, DOH officials announced.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), will soon pass at least $693,000 earmarked by Congress to the territory to replace the Health Department’s aging HealthStop Vans on St. Thomas and St. Croix.
The van on St. Croix was most recently used in community outreach activities including the breast and cervical cancer screening last August in William’s Delight.
The van on St. Thomas has been out of service for at least five years. Last month, the DOH partnered with HOPE, Inc, borrowing its van for free health screenings for breast, cervical and prostate cancer screenings in Estate Tutu.
“The new mobile units will go a long way in the Department’s initiative to bring healthcare back into the community,” said V.I. Health Commissioner Julia Sheen in a recent statement.
“We look forward to government agencies and community organizations partnering with us to make access to preventative health care convenient and a regular undertaking for residents,” she said.
