 For more than five years, the Cosmopolitan-UNMC College of Nursing Mobile Nursing Center has traveled more than 30,000 miles, making nearly 10,000 patient visits in rural and urban underserved areas in Nebraska. The Mobile Nursing Center serves those who cannot easily access basic health screening, education, counseling and referral services due to transportation, financial or language barriers. The Mobile Nursing Center was organized in 1992 as a collaborative project between the Cornbelt Federation of Cosmopolitan International, a service organization that funds diabetes projects and supports diabetes research, and the UNMC College of Nursing in Omaha. The center provides service to the Nebraska cities of Spalding, Burwell, Ord, Loup City, Fullerton, Genoa, Platte Center, Lindsay, Omaha, Lincoln and South Sioux City, as well as Council Bluffs, Iowa. Last Sept. 24, the Mobile Nursing Center and its staff were on their way to a scheduled health screening in the town of Ord when the driver of the 34-foot motor home heard a loud bang. He pulled over and found the vehicle on fire. The staff safely escaped the fire but vehicle was totalled at nearly $33,000 in damage. The misfortune, which cancelled the day’s health screening service, also left the Mobile Nursing Center staff wondering about its future. But through the help of many, not only has the staff been able to continue its work uninterrupted, it now has a new, customized vehicle, because of $117,500 in donations. While news of the misfortune was spreading, the Cosmopolitan clubs in Omaha, Grand Island, Council Bluffs and Sioux City were working to get the Mobile Nursing Center back on the road. Their work netted two major donations: one for $25,000 from the Henry and Maria Ahrens Charitable Trust of Grand Island and the other, a $92,500 gift from an anonymous donor in Omaha. In addition, an Omaha company, A.C. Nelsen, provided free use of one of its motor homes so the Mobile Nursing Center could continue its services. It also provided at discount, a 1998 Coachman motor home valued at $98,000. The 36-foot custom-built motor home contains 325 square feet of space, including private patient consultation areas, an exam room, areas for laboratory testing, three computer stations with Internet and electronic mail capability, television and videocassette recorder, and a satellite receiver capable of being used for educational purposes. “We have a lot of members who believe in the project and work hard at it,” said Jim McVay, president of the Cornbelt Diabetes Connection in Omaha. “The organization and a nursing grant has funded the Mobile Nursing Center project since the beginning.” Several months before the fire destroyed the Mobile Nursing Center, members of Omaha’s Cornbelt Diabetes Connection, Inc., had begun making plans to have the aging motor home replaced. “We were looking at buying another motor home,” said Jim McVay. “When the original unit was destroyed, we had to move a little faster. We felt the nurses couldn’t stop what they were doing. It’s a very worthwhile project.” The plea for help caught the attention of Arthur “Jim” Mayer, a member of the Grand Island Cosmopolitan Club. Mayer is also one of four trustees of the Henry and Maria Ahrens Charitable Trust of Grand Island, as well as Mayers’ wife, Elizabeth and Dean McGrath, M.D., and wife, Margaret, who also were impressed by the mobile nursing project. The Ahrens, both now deceased, farmed in Grand Island and managed properties. “The Mobile Nursing Center provides opportunities for people to be tested for diabetes in smaller towns that don’t have substantial medical centers,” said Mayer, attorney with Mayer, Burns, Ahlschwede & Koenig law firm in Grand Island. “Each year the clubs contribute towards diabetes research and screening.” The staff of the Mobile Nursing Center are overwhelmed by the support they’ve received. “It is very gratifying to see the Cosmopolitans and the other donors are as interested in making this health service available as we are,” said Catherine Todero, Ph.D., associate professor, UNMC College of Nursing and project director of the Cosmopolitan-UNMC College of Nursing Mobile Nursing Center. “They are genuinely interested in the health of underserved communities.” On Feb. 10, the Mobile Nursing Center staff will embark on its first voyage in its new motor home to Platte Center and Lindsay, Neb., to provide health screening services to the elderly. UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state. Through its commitment to research, education and patient care, UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for cancer research and treatment and solid organ transplantation. Nearly $25 million in research grants and contracts are awarded to UNMC scientists annually. In addition, UNMC’s educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. |