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Traverse City Health Clinic gets $1 million HRSA grant to extend mobile unit hours

TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse Health Clinic received a $1 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to extend the hours of its Mobile Medical Unit.

According to a Jan. 15 news release, the $1 million two-year grant will provide $500,000 per year of staffing and support to expand the hours of our Mobile Medical Unit to better serve the unsheltered and unhoused population.

The current MMU schedule is limited to 10 hours per week which leaves a significant gap in accessibility for this part of our community. Additional hours are necessary to meet the needs of our growing unhoused population, exacerbated by rising housing costs and economic instability. The Expanded Hours grant will allow the MMU to operate 29 hours per week, providing services that include chronic disease management, acute care, preventative care, behavioral health interventions, and substance use disorder recovery support.

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“I want them to know that they will be seen in a non-judgmental way,” Says Traverse City Health Clinic Medical Director of Outreach Roger Gerstle, M.D. “They can answer, not answer, whatever questions they feel comfortable. And we will do our best to to meet their medical needs, along with offering them help in other areas of their life, from housing to food to substance use to whatever. ”


The expanded MMU hours aim to significantly improve healthcare access for the unhoused population, addressing major health disparities and reducing non-urgent emergency room visits. The clinic leadership anticipates serving an additional 500 patients annually, more than doubling our current reach.

This project will also support TC Street Medicine, the collaboration between Traverse Health Clinic, Munson Family Practice Center, and Goodwill Northern Michigan.


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