The Detroit-based nonprofit Focus: HOPE is offering free mobile health services and mammograms at its food centers throughout the year until fall.
Focus: HOPE is working with Wayne State Mobile Health Units and Ascension Michigan to ramp up access to health care resources. Wayne Health Mobile Units, staffed by registered nurses and medical assistants, provide screenings for diabetes, cholesterol and high blood pressure. Ascension Michigan will be on hand to offer mammograms to screen for breast cancer. The mobile services will be available once a month and there are no eligibility requirements.
“These services are fundamental to the well-being of our community. We recognize the disparities in health care access faced by marginalized communities and aim to bridge these gaps,” Portia Roberson, CEO of Focus: HOPE, said in a news release.
Although most Detroiters reported being in good health, one in five said their health is fair or poor, according to a 2018 survey by the University of Michigan’s Detroit Metro Area Communities Study. Nearly 10% of Detroiters said they were unable to afford a copayment or prescription and a little less than a third said they couldn’t access the type of health care they wanted.
The Wayne State Mobile Unit will be available from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Focus: HOPE’s Westside Food Center at 1300 Oakman Boulevard in Detroit the first Thursday every month from April 4 to Oct. 3, except for July, when the mobile unit will be on site Thursday, July 11.
Those interested in getting a mammogram with Ascension Michigan must register by calling 313-494-4600. The service will be available from 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. on Mondays at the following locations:
- Westside Food Center (April 15): 1300 Oakman Boulevard, Detroit
- Eastside Food Center (May 20): 9151 Chalmers Street, Detroit
- Westside Food Center (June 17): 1300 Oakman Boulevard, Detroit
- Inkster Food Center (July 15): 759 Inkster Road, Inkster
- Eastside Food Center (August 19): 9151 Chalmers Street, Detroit
- Westside Food Center (September 16): 1300 Oakman Boulevard, Detroit