SAN ANTONIO — UT Health medical professionals visited Uvalde in their fully equipped mobile unit Wednesday in an ongoing effort to provide health care in rural Texas communities.
The 40-foot-long bus allows them to conduct wellness checks, administer vaccinations and undertaken a host of other health exams in areas where professional care is scarce. The so-called "clinic road trips" launches a year, having connected more than 300 Texans with health care in that time "who would not otherwise have access to vital services," UT Health says.
“These visits and personal interactions are so important to keep children and families healthy,” Cindy Sickora, an administrator with UT Health San Antonio's nursing school, is quoted as saying in a release. “They play an important role in communities where people don’t always have wellness checks or regular care. If we weren’t serving these kids, no one else would be."
Uvalde has been the focal point of a renewed push for mental health resources specifically, after last May's mass shooting that left 19 kids and two teachers dead at Robb Elementary School. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, whose district includes the town, has lobbed for increased funding, while a special Texas Senate committee created in the wake of Uvalde recommended expanded access to the state's telemedicine system for mental health in local school districts.
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