GOSHEN – New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan came to the
Farmworkers Health Center, The Alamo, in Goshen’s Black Dirt region
on Wednesday afternoon to bless a new 33-foot mobile health center containing
medical equipment and examination space.
The vehicle will travel the lower Hudson Valley providing primary care
and other essential services to agricultural workers, the frail and elderly,
and other underserved groups who may defer medical attention because of
a lack of transportation, limited funds or the inability to leave their
work without jeopardizing their livelihoods.
Cardinal Dolan said that this mobile health center was in line with the
teachings of Jesus Christ, as Jesus went to where the people were, instead
of them coming to him, just as this medical van will do. “These
talented medical professionals can now go and meet people right where
they are, with the quality health services they deserve and often desperately
need,” said Cardinal Dolan.
Cardinal Dolan, center, blesses the new health van (Photo: Orysia
Dmytrenko)
The outfitted medical van, funded by the healthcare ministry of the Archdiocese
of New York, ArchCare, will visit farms, community agencies, parishes
and other faith communities, in several locations. It will be staffed
and operated by the not-for-profit HRHCare, formerly known as Hudson River
Healthcare, one of the nation’s largest community health providers,
which will deliver care, regardless of a patient’s ability to pay,
in addition to health education and connect patients with ongoing services
at HRHCare’s local health services if needed.
Orange County’s Commissioner of Health Dr. Eli Avila said the most
important thing about Wednesday’s event was how healthcare will
now be going out to those in our area who are needy, the marginalized.
He said it shows “how government and religious groups can work together
and bring positive things to the community.”
The mobile health center on wheels already began visiting communities
in the Hudson Valley in May. It will continue to operate year-round, weather
permitting, and expects to serve more than 1,800 patients annually throughout
the region.
A schedule of the mobile health center’s upcoming locations will
be available at www.hrhcare.org/mobilehealth or by calling 1-844-HRH-Care
(1-844-474-2273).
