UF’s Mobile Outreach Clinic will be visiting Cone Park Branch Library on a different day.
The clinic, which is in a bus, provides free medical care to underserved populations of Gainesville and will only be at Cone Park on Mondays instead of Thursdays, starting today.
The 5-year-old program partners with Alachua County libraries to serve residents.
"On Thursdays, we were getting a low turnout compared to other days," said Yunsai Ng, a volunteer coordinator for the Mobile Outreach Clinic.
Cone Park does their food distribution on Thursdays, the UF microbiology and cell science junior said.
"I think what was happening on Thursday was patients were choosing food over us," the 20-year-old said.
Most patients come in for treatment of chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, Ng said.
The Mobile Outreach Clinic offers services at several libraries throughout Gainesville.
Cone Park would have about five to 10 patients when the Clinic was there, while other libraries averaged 12, she said.
The Clinic first partnered with Alachua County libraries in July 2011, with the first location at the Alachua County Library Headquarters, located at 401 E. University Ave., said Nickie Kortus, marketing and public relations manager for the Alachua County Library District. The clinic is now available at four libraries: Cone Park, Library Headquarters, Tower Road Branch Library and The Library Partnership.
"The libraries are one of our greatest partners," Ng said.
Contact Caitlin Ostroff at costroff@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @ceostroff
