The Heart Center Clinic cares for LaFayette
BY LANDI RUTLEDGE
FOR THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — For four years, the Heart Center Cardiology, located in Opelika, has had a mobile clinic designed to provide the same intentional care as the Heart Center Clinic. Care services includes pacemaker checks, EKG’s, consults and prescribing any tests needed for patients that get sent to The Heart Center.
Meredith Turner, practice manager for nine months, said two staff members, a nurse practitioner and medical assistant, take an RV and travel to LaFayette, Hurtsboro, Roanoke, Wedowee, Tuskegee and Dadeville to provide care.
“We’re just trying to serve those rural communities and bring heart care to them,” Turner said. “Actually, that’s what I did today. I went to a Wellness Fair at Tuskegee University and found out a lot of the patients did not really know that we were coming. We’re trying to spread the word and let people know we’re there.”
Turner said she wants the communities to understand that both established patients and new patients can receive heart checkups from the comfort of their hometowns. If further testing is needed, patients will be sent to The Heart Center.
She also said every new patient in the office, will be scheduled to get an EKG and workup done.
Turner said the patient response to the RV services has been “overwhelmingly positive.”
“People are so thrilled — I find a lot of them don’t have a way to get all the way down to Opelika or Auburn,” Turner said. “Rather than trying to find a way, they would skip trying to find a cardiologist altogether. This has really been a way for them to still get those heart checkups that they need and prevent anything negative from happening to them.”
Dr. Joni Winter is the nurse practitioner that travels with the mobile clinic where she said between 10 and 15 patients are scheduled to be seen. Around half of her month is spent out on the RV while the other is spent in Opelika.
Turner said preparation before each trip involves checking the EKG machine and making sure the correct supplies are packed. Patient charts and records are digital.
“There’s not a ton of prep work which goes into it, it’s really more about having the space available and having the RV,” Turner said. “With it opening up, we’re able to serve patients just like we would in this clinic setting, here in the office.”
Turner said that there are plans, in the future, to expand the services to more communities. Since working here, she said she now sees how important providing rural heart-health care is.
“There’s so many people that have heart-related issues, you’d be surprised how it affects so many people,” Turner said. “The constant need for the services to be offered has really surprised me the most.”
