TULSA, Okla. — Starting Thursday, much of the Tulsa metro will be able to receive medical care from their homes thanks to St. Francis and a partnership with a mobile urgent care service.
Dispatch Health is a full-service urgent care on wheels, and St. Francis staff say this partnership means more care for more people and less of a burden on emergency departments and ICUs.
Emergency rooms and ICUs were filled to the brim throughout the pandemic with sick patients.
And now, as we enter flu and RSV season, they quickly fill back up. So to help with the overflow and reach more people needing medical care, St. Francis is partnering with Dispatch Health, a same-day, in-home urgent care.
“There’s always going to be a time where the patient requires care in the emergency department and in the ICU. But what we have found, and I think that medical providers can relate to this all across the community, is that often times we have patients that can only access care through the emergency department, and so 70 percent of what the emergency department can do, we are able to do in the comfort of the patient’s home,” said Nurse Practitioner Rubi Litteral.
To do that, Dispatch Health has two teams of rovers.
“Those teams come with multiple pelican cases in the back, all addressed by the system to address acute care needs for those patients that need care,” said ER physician Carlton Stadler.
The rover will have an emergency-trained nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant and a medic. The rover is able to perform EKGs and mobile imaging. St. Francis President and CEO Dr. Cliff Robinson said offering another way to receive care will allow for more people to be reached.
“We’ve all gotten comfortable with the concept that maybe there’s care that can be delivered effectively and safely outside of the emergency department or a hospital or even a clinic. And we think the time is right that the general public really recognizes that if care can be brought to me at home, that’s wonderful,” said Dr. Robinson.
The rover covers much of the Tulsa metro, going from Sapulpa, to Sand Springs, and Kellyville, down to Muskogee and Wagoner.
Starting Thursday, there will be two rover teams, but they hope to eventually grow the fleet to cover more of Green Country. To request care, you can call this number, 918-383-9481.
And for more information, click here.
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