OLE Health rolls out mobile health clinic to serve Napa County farmworkers

ST. HELENA — After decades of providing health care to Napa Valley farm workers, OLE Health is bringing services closer to the workers themselves.

OLE Health was founded by farmworker advocates and forward-thinking vintners in 1972 to provide health care to Spanish-speaking migrant workers. The health center has since grown to include six brick-and-mortar clinics and serves about 40,000 patients annually across Napa and Solano counties.

In December, OLE Health opened its seventh clinic — in the form of a brightly painted Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, funded in part with a gift from Dalla Valle Vineyards. The van parks by farmworker housing in St. Helena just off the scenic Silverado Trail.

In an attempt to remove barriers to health care, OLE Health is using the new mobile clinic to go back to its roots, and redefining the old custom of house calls by bringing a bilingual, culturally competent staff to farmers.

Work is scarce this time of year and many farmworkers have traveled to their home countries to visit their families, while others stay and seek local jobs in other industries. In the midst of the Napa Valley’s post-harvest lull, while patient needs are manageable, OLE Health is taking the opportunity to roll out its clinic on wheels.

When vineyard work picks up, the clinic will travel between different farmworker housing sites to treat as many patients as possible. In addition to being able to move between sites, the mobile clinic can remove barriers that can prevent the community from seeking care. While some farmworkers do not have access to transportation, others may fear a lack of legal documentation, insurance, English literacy or finances will stand in the way from receiving medical care.

“It’s all about trust. It’s all about relationships,” said Ricky Hurtado, OLE Health’s community outreach manager. “Most of our staff are bilingual, culturally competent individuals that can connect with these populations that really need (our) support.”

Patients are seen on a first-come, first-served basis and are screened and assessed during appointments of 20 to 30 minutes each. Staff members anticipate patients who seek care at the mobile clinic will have a range of conditions, from hypertension and diabetes to depression and anxiety.

Lulu Garcia, a physician assistant at OLE Health’s East Fairfield clinic, has worked at the health center for more than a decade and is the current medical provider on the mobile clinic. Garcia and her medical assistant Cecelia Becerra work from the van, which is well-stocked with exam room medical equipment.

“We’re a large group of highly skilled, competent, very passionate providers,” said Garcia, who looks forward to introducing patients to OLE Health’s wider range of services. “Being able to offer those services is a great thing, and we might not be able to offer them on the mobile clinic, but we can direct them to our local clinics.”

On site, Garcia can prescribe treatments for acute conditions such as medicated lotion for a rash or an antibiotic for an infection, for patients to pick up at a pharmacy. Those who require lab work, long-term monitoring, or prescriptions to treat conditions like diabetes and depression will need to seek further care at one of OLE’s six stationary clinics.

Many of the patients Garcia has seen in the clinic van’s early weeks are using the service for preventive care, indicating the need for this type of health care that exists in the farm labor community. As OLE staff acquaints the community with their services, if and when serious health complications arise, patients will have the information and resources they need to seek medical attention.

In addition to primary care, OLE Health services include dentistry, optometry and behavioral health. This is good news for Reynaldo Santiago, one of Garcia’s new patients.

Santiago can’t see well and wants to improve his vision to improve his quality of life and to be sure his eyes are fit to start pruning — a meticulous job that requires skilled and precise cuts — in January. Through a translator, he said he’s grateful to OLE for providing this service, but also to take advantage of some of OLE’s other services.

In the coming months, as farmworkers return to local housing centers, OLE hopes to have a regular mobile clinic schedule to rotate between housing sites. Leading up to the grape harvest, mobile clinic organizers anticipate an uptick in patients and will adjust accordingly as they assess various needs — one of the benefits of a clinic on wheels.

The OLE Health mobile clinic team has plans to scale up its reach to serve additional vulnerable populations, but for now, farmworkers can find the clinic parked at the River Ranch Farm Worker Housing Center at 1109 Silverado Trail South in St. Helena from 2:30 to 6 pm on Fridays.