BY DIANE SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — A ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday in Inez marked a major step forward for women’s health care in Martin County. The Martin County Health Department and Appalachian Regional Health Care unveiled a new partnership to deliver monthly women’s and primary care services through the ARH Mobile Clinic.

The mobile unit will park at the health department on the last Tuesday of each month from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Dr. Tina Gaunt, OB-GYN with ARH, will provide annual well-woman exams, pap smears and cervical cancer screenings, blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes screenings as well as family planning and birth control counseling. At the same time, ARH Physician Assistant Emily Hammonds will provide primary care for patients 10 years and older.

Patients can schedule appointments by calling 606-377-3462, though walk-ins are also welcome.

Martin County Public Health Director Eric Mills stated during Friday’s ceremony at the health department that the collaboration provides long-overdue access to specialized care for local women.

“Specialty care is something we’re not used to here in Martin County,” Mills said, noting that women are used to traveling long distances to receive OB-GYN services. “OB-GYN care is a primary care specialty. It is one of those things that every community deserves to have access to and we’re grateful that ARH is making that happen.”

Roy Milwee, chief ambulatory officer with ARH, said the ribbon-cutting was a celebration of “two entities coming together to offer more care and access to care.”

Reflecting on the effort that led to this partnership, Milwee added, “This has been a long time in the making. We started these conversations almost two years ago.”

He emphasized that the collaboration addresses a growing national concern.

“Access to care, in particular, access to women’s health, is getting tougher and tougher to provide throughout the country, throughout the nation, specifically in rural communities,” Milwee said. “We are extremely blessed to have a group of OB-GYN specialists throughout ARH that can continue to protect some of our most important people. And that’s our moms and all the women that have to take care of us.”

Looking ahead, Milwee expressed confidence in the broader potential of the initiative.

“I think this is just the tip of the iceberg for this community,” he said.

Milwee went on to say the mobile unit will allow ARH to extend that commitment “anywhere.”

“That’s what we’re going to do with it—provide access to the great people here in Eastern Kentucky,” said Milwee.

OB-GYN services

Dr. Gaunt, whom Milwee introduced as the “star,” will provide well-woman exams.

“We’re hoping to expand services as we go,” Gaunt said. “There’s talk of moving the clinic from the mobile clinic to inside the health department here. If that were to happen, then we could expand a lot of things. STI testing is a piece of cake on the bus, pap smears and all of that … Right now we’re focusing on GYN care and what we can do.”

Gaunt added that expanding services to women is the goal, while another key focus is reaching young people. She spoke passionately about the importance of educating teenagers, calling them the future.

“It’s important for teenagers to know that whatever they say to me is between me and them,” said Gaunt. “I don’t go and tell their parents or anything. And the nice thing is that with women’s health services, STD testing and treatment, birth control counseling, birth control prescriptions, all of that, we don’t have to have parental consent. So they can totally come in, they can be seen, and parents don’t ever have to know they were here if they don’t want them to. Although I do encourage our young girls to be open and discuss things with them.”

She said the mobility of the clinic could help close access gaps for students.

“With the mobile clinic, if the health department is not convenient for teenagers, taking it to the high school may be something to consider in the future,” she said.

For now, Gaunt offers a straightforward message to teens and young adults: “There’s no reason that if you’re not ready to have a baby, you should have a baby. So please come see us. We will talk with you, go over your options and come up with something that works for everybody.”

Primary care

While Dr. Gaunt practices in one exam room inside the mobile clinic, PA Hammonds will provide acute care for individuals aged 10 and above in another.

“Anything like COVID, flu, strep, RSV, sick visits, ear infections, anything like that,” Hammonds said. “We’ll do primary care management, such as COPD, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, asthma, all the things basically for 18 and up.”

Hammonds will also focus on preventive health care, including vaccines such as flu, pneumonia, Tdap and others.

“As for free screenings, if we’re able to provide those, blood pressure, cholesterol, A1C, skin cancer screenings,” she added.

Medical assistants will travel with the mobile clinic to assist with patient check-in and laboratory procedures.

“We are based out of McDowell,” Hammonds said. “So we would drop the labs in McDowell. The results usually run within two days. Then we would call and follow up on the results.”

She added that the clinic will handle prescriptions electronically using the pharmacy of a patient’s choice.

Next steps: Permanent services

For Mills, the partnership is about overcoming barriers, expanding access to women’s health services and achieving what he calls “true health” in Martin County.

“The goal is to increase access to care for every woman in Martin County,” Mills said. “Public health is about preventive care. It’s about not waiting until people are sick but acting now to help educate, inform and provide access to care so our community can be healthier.”

Mills explained that the health department is now working with ARH to finalize plans for a permanent setup inside the local facility.

“So they will actually be leasing a small amount of space in our clinic to deliver care in our clinic rooms when we are not using them for WIC, immunizations or our standard health clinic,” he said. “We don’t want to leave this facility idle. We want to ensure it’s being utilized to its fullest potential. ARH is willing to come in and pay for the space when they use it to see their own patients.”

He added that once ARH moves inside, the hope is to build on the foundation already laid by the women’s health program.

“The plan is to expand services to include cardiology and other specialty care once ARH starts using the inside space,” Mills said.

Meanwhile, ARH manages its own operations and billing

“It will be just like seeing a private doctor,” said Mills.