Knox Agency Launches New Mobile Health Care For Crossville

A new Healthcare on Wheels program took to the streets of Crossville Tuesday, offering free mammograms and flu vaccinations.

Saint Mary’s Legacy Clinic Executive Director Martin Vargas said the organization is partnering with Saint Alphonsus Catholic Church to expand its service to Crossville. He said the organization is celebrating ten years of offering free healthcare to the uninsured of rural Tennessee.

“Here in East Tennessee, specifically Crossville, there’s a tremendous need,” Vargas said. “From people that are working and simply don’t have healthcare, to those who could be experiencing an economic hardship, to those that are homeless. So, there’s a wide variety of care.”

Vargas said the newly-opened Crossville location has more than 100 volunteers from the Cumberland County community helping to run the operation. He said the service will return to Crossville on a rotating monthly schedule along with St Mary’s eight other East Tennessee locations.

He said two years ago, church officials reached out to ask the organization for help in their food pantry and offered the use of two new facilities that were being built. He said the partnership has allowed many residents to experience healthcare services that they may have missed for years.

“You know, it’s amazing,” Vargas said. “We have over 100 volunteers and we love the ones that are here from Crossville today; Fairfield Glade, supporting their neighbors and taking care of one another. Nothing could be said finer about Crossville than could be said about the volunteers we have here.”

Vargas said access to services like mammograms and pap smears can be scarce for women in rural areas. He said many people, insured or not, have trouble finding a suitable primary care physician, regardless of their medical needs.

“You’d have to travel from your home to the location, you’d have to make the cost of it,” Vargas said. “At Saint Mary’s Legacy Clinic, we provide all of our care at no cost to our patients and we fill that void where there may not be healthcare available.”

He said some days, the Free Healthcare on Wheels service will include a job van where people can apply for jobs and work on resumes after receiving medical treatment. He said people can call Saint Mary’s Legacy Clinic or visit their website to schedule an appointment.

The organization grew from St. Mary’s Hospital, which opened in Knoxville on April 22, 1930.