The Brown County Health Department is pleased to announce the acquirement of a mobile health unit to take services to the Brown County community. From the left, Pamela Salsberry (Community Engagment Lead for Ohio’s HCS Project and Professor Emeritus in OSU College of Public Health) and the Brown County Health Department’s Kyle Arn (Health Commissioner), Ami Yelton (RN), and Pamela Williams (Deputy Health Commissioner/Director of Nursing). Photo provided

The Brown County Health Department is pleased to announce the acquirement of a mobile health unit to take services to the Brown County community. From the left, Pamela Salsberry (Community Engagment Lead for Ohio’s HCS Project and Professor Emeritus in OSU College of Public Health) and the Brown County Health Department’s Kyle Arn (Health Commissioner), Ami Yelton (RN), and Pamela Williams (Deputy Health Commissioner/Director of Nursing). Photo provided

The Brown County Health Department is pleased to announce the acquirement of a mobile health unit to take services to the Brown County community. The unit contains a triage room, a fully functioning exam room, cold storage for vaccines, and many other amenities.

Funding for the unit was made possible through a partnership with the Ohio HEALing Communities Study; a collaboration between The Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati, RecoveryOhio, and Brown County community leaders to identify what components of evidence-based interventions lead to preventing and reducing opioid misuse and overdose deaths. Federal funding for the project was provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) HEAL Initiative https://heal.nih.gov/.

The HEALing Communities study has been working in Brown County since July of 2022 with the Brown County Board of Mental Health & Addiction Services Executive Director, Deanna Vietze and the Coalition for a Drug Free Brown County as the leading organizations. We encourage you to visit https://healingcommunitiesstudy.org/sites/ohio.html to find local treatment resources, learn more about the study, and what you can do to help.

In addition to reducing opioid overdose deaths through the distribution of Naloxone, the unit addresses the transportation barrier to health care for the citizens of Brown County. The unit can provide a variety of health care services such as childhood and adult vaccines, reproductive health and wellness resources, chronic disease management, and other types of community outreach. Pam Williams, Brown County Deputy Health Commissioner/Director of Nursing says, “we are thrilled to have the mobile unit in Brown County and look forward to attending community events and offering services to residents closer to their homes.”

For any questions about the HEALing Communities Study, please contact the Community Engagement Facilitator for Brown County, Brandon Elmore at brandon.elmore@osumc.edu.

For more information about the Brown County Health Department, or to request the mobile unit at an event please contact Deputy Health Commissioner/Director of Nursing Pam Williams at pwilliams@browncountyhealth.org or 937-378-6892. To receive text notifications about events for the mobile unit text MOBILE to 888-817-5540.