FREEPORT — Highland Community College’s (HCC) Nursing and Allied Health program is hitting the road. A mobile medical unit, recently unveiled, will bring care to those who need it most in Northwest Illinois.
Set up to function as a health care clinic on wheels, the specialized vehicle provides new avenues of student instruction and community services to residents of Stephenson, Ogle, Jo Daviess and Carroll counties. The college hosted nearly a hundred guests at a ribbon-cutting for the mobile medical unit.
“To our knowledge, no other community college in Illinois has a mobile medical unit like this one,” said HCC President Chris Kuberski. “This unit creates a unique learning experience for our students while also serving the health care needs of the communities across our Northwest Illinois district.”
Beyond being a high-tech learning tool for current Nursing and Allied Health students, the vehicle will meet prospective students where they are for such services as sports physicals at local high schools. Perhaps most critically, the mobile medical unit will help fill gaps in the area’s health-care deserts.
“We are excited about the opportunity to build stronger, healthier connections within our community. This unit will not only be an asset for health care, but also a symbol of partnership, compassion and a shared responsibility to care for one another,” said Alicia Kepner, Highland’s coordinator of Nursing and Allied Health. “We can provide essential check-ups, health screenings and vaccinations for those who may not otherwise have access to these services — whether they live in a rural area, face financial barriers or have limited transportation options.”
HCC’s nursing program funded the mobile medical unit with a $300,000 grant from the Department of Health and Human Services. Former Congresswoman Cheri Bustos assisted Highland with pursuing this opportunity during her time as the U.S. representative from Illinois’s 17th congressional district.
“This was not an ‘I alone can do it’ situation,” said Bustos, who helped Highland secure the grant through a Community Project Funding Request. “You partnered. You worked together. You told our congressional office how this wasn’t just a Highland Community College project — this was a community project. … For me, that was enough to say, ‘Let’s make this happen.’”
Additional elected officials at the event included State Sen. Andrew Chesney and State Rep. Tony McCombie, as well as Outreach Representative Shaneka Young, on behalf of U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen.
The Greater Freeport Partnership conducted this morning’s ribbon-cutting, and the project has been supported by multiple community organizations, some of which include Freeport Health Network, Sisters of St. Mary Health, the Stephenson County Health Department and the Salvation Army.
“The mobile medical unit allows our instructors and students to collaborate with these organizations — exposing students to a variety of settings in their education and ensuring they are prepared to care for those in our community after graduation,” said Dr. Stephanie Eymann, HCC’s dean of Nursing and Allied Health. “Through this project, we hope to continue those partnerships while providing a unique and innovative educational outlet for HCC students to serve some of our most vulnerable neighbors.”
To learn more about Nursing and Allied Health at Highland Community College, visit highland.edu.
