OSF 'Care-A-Van' Returns, Providing Health Care To Underserved

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — The OSF King Care-A-Van has hit the road again to provide important health care services to underserved rural parts of Illinois.

Since 2019, the OSF HealthCare-operated van has provided screenings, immunizations and health education to rural communities in Bureau, Henry, LaSalle, and Putnam counties. For much of the pandemic, OSF made the difficult decision to suspend use of the van until they could figure out how to operate it as safely as possible.

"We wanted to make sure to serve these populations as safely as possible," Lauren Theis, director of community engagement for OSF HealthCare, said in a news release. "We did take it off the road for a few months and re-evaluated it and asked ourselves how can we get out there and serve our communities. Last summer, we supported a partnership with the Community Health Partnerships of Illinois to provide COVID testing to migrant workers. We did that for quite a few months and then we were able to secure PPE and get specific guidelines to make sure we were keeping ourselves and patients safe on the van and at that point we decided to get back out there and start this program back up again.”

The Care-A-Van was made possible in coordination with the OSF HealthCare Foundation and a large donation from Don and Val King of Manlius in Bureau County. After relying on OSF HealthCare for many years, Don and Val donated the funds to purchase and equip the mobile health center.

“We are so grateful to the King family for providing the OSF King Care-A-Van," Theis says. "It has really given us the chance to break down the barrier of transportation and get out into the community and provide care to the underserved and community members that we might not have seen before. We are very fortunate to have this type of care. It’s something we don’t have everywhere and it’s a great opportunity for us.”