Southeast Missouri State University announced a new partnership with SEMO Health Network on Friday that representatives of both say will extend mobile medical and dental services from the SHOW Mobile farther into the Bootheel than ever before.

The SHOW (Southeast Health on Wheels) Mobile is a 38-foot-long specially designed bus that includes a medical exam area, full dental suite, lab and office area. Its purpose is to make frequent stops in communities to provide health care services and health education.

A partnership the university had with SoutheastHEALTH for the services ended in the fall. The SHOW Mobile previously used traveling nurse practitioners for medical services, and they were required to provide those services within 50 miles of the home office of their supervising doctor. That setup limited what areas could receive service, said Dr. Loretta Prater, who recently retired from overseeing the partnership. Dental services contracted from a St. Louis dental care provider company were also included.

The SHOW Mobile parks in front of the River Campus of Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau on Friday. (Laura Simon)

"With this partnership, all the barriers are now gone," Prater said.

SEMO Health Network CEO Cheryl White said with the new partnership that all Bootheel counties in the network's service area, including Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Scott and Stoddard, will receive medical and dental services through the SHOW Mobile. The network has clinics in all of those counties, she said. Since those counties have some of the lowest rates of income per household in the state, it is a much needed service, White said.

SEMO Health Network is based in Sikeston.

"This will be the same as our brick-and-mortar offices, only mobile," White said.

The target population for SHOW Mobile services is underinsured or uninsured people with low income. Patients are charged fees for services on a sliding scale based on income level. SHOW Mobile services began with $1.2 million in congressional earmark funding secured seven years ago by U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson. The service is now funded by the fees it charges patients as well as a federal grant. The university owns the bus and pays for its fuel, maintenance and driver's salary.

Prater said around 6,000 people in Southeast Missouri have used SHOW Mobile services since operations began shortly after the earmark was secured.

Emerson spoke at a news conference Friday at the River Campus where the announcement was made.

"Back then it was quite obvious we were severely lacking in access to health care," she said, referring to the areas the service covers.

White said the new way the services will be provided will help address the issue of limited access for people in the Bootheel counties because of a lack of public transportation in those areas.

"A lot of people there only go to the dentist when they are in pain, and only go to the doctor when they are very sick," White said.

According to White, there is much more to come with the partnership than providing medical and dental care. SEMO Health Network also wants to teach the people it serves about prevention and how to change their behaviors to promote a healthy lifestyle, she said. She gave the example of a smoking cessation program on which staff can educate patients when they make stops in communities.

Between now and May, the SHOW Mobile will travel to schools in the service area and offer dental and medical care. White said SEMO Health Network is still working on a schedule of visits to the general public in various communities. To alert communities of SHOW Mobile visits, SEMO Health Network normally sends out a staff team to hold wellness screening in communities about a week before.

White said the SHOW Mobile will also be used as an emergency mobile unit when necessary, as in the case of a major natural disaster. The bus traveled to Joplin, Mo., last year following a tornado that devastated the city, and earlier this month went to Puxico, Mo., following an EF3 tornado.

The university and SEMO Health Network began planning the partnership in October after their first meeting, White said. Another meeting to work out details was held in January, and SEMO Health Network began a pilot program on the bus the same month.

Student interns from the university's health and nursing programs often help staff the bus, and university officials say that will continue.

White said another plus of the partnership is that it puts health care and education together.

eragan@semissourian.com

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