In order to address gaps in women’s healthcare in rural parts of Southeast Texas, the Hope Women’s Resource Clinic uses a “mobile medical unit” – an RV converted into a clinic that provides various prenatal care – free of charge.

The mobile medical unit provides pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and STI testing, and treatment. It parks in Port Arthur, Silsbee, Orange, and Crystal Beach, Texas. The company has been operating for 27 years and also has a brick-and-mortar clinic building in Beaumont, Texas. They are planning to open another clinic building in Port Arthur.

“We saw the need to reach out to the community for those who can’t get here,” said Jeanette Harvey, Executive Director of Hope Clinic.

The mobile medical unit was created because while patients in Beaumont could use public transportation to access the clinic building, patients in surrounding rural areas had trouble getting to it. Harvey and her team conducted research by visiting a handful of other small towns in the area with their smaller mobile medical unit at the time to gauge community need and location convenience, and narrow it down.