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Buncombe County celebrates National Nurses Week, honoring the contributions and hard work that nurses around the country do to ensure the health of the community.
The nurses in the Mobile Team are always on the go and able to adapt to any environment—even drag shows—all with the goal of providing care to underserved communities.
Mobile Team
Services: The County’s Mobile Team provides equitable access to public health services, focusing on communities historically underserved by the healthcare system, low-income areas, and rural areas. Services include vaccinations, vaccine record reviews, community resource referrals, health education, and infection prevention. The team is slated to provide rapid HIV and hepatitis C testing, STI screening, education, and treatment, and reproductive health services in the future.
Location: 40 Coxe Avenue in Asheville and around the community
Hours: Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Supervisor: Sue Hanlon
The core purpose of the Mobile Team is to provide public health services to those in the community who are unable to access services in the brick-and-mortar 40 Coxe Avenue location, says Public Health Nurse Supervisor Sue Hanlon. Communities and organizations can submit a request if they would like to partner with the Mobile Team.
Mobile Team nurses have the special skill of being able to adapt to different situations and environments.
“Mobile Team Registered Nurses literally need to be able to roll with it,” Sue says. “We provide services in non-traditional spaces and non-traditional times. For example, during the mpox outreach, we were doing vaccinations in a closet at midnight on a Friday at a drag show. We have forged strong relationships with community partners to help serve the most vulnerable members of Buncombe County.”
Sue says the Mobile Team has been provided much-needed health outreach in the community.
“We have built this team from the ground up. We have provided over 1,800 vaccines in our outreach efforts since our inception in June of 2022,” Sue says. “Additionally, we have provided surge capacity for the clinic by staffing the pediatric covid vaccine rollout and supported the mpox vaccinations in the clinic.”