Health on the Move
New Hope Clinic’s Wellness Wagon and Care-A-Van greatly expand their range of medical services to underserved populations in Brunswick County.
For 27 years New Hope Clinic, a 501(c)3 volunteer-driven nonprofit organization, has never wavered in its mission and passion: “To provide patient-centered healthcare and wellness services for underserved adults in Brunswick County.”
Over the years they have continually expanded their services and patient base, and once again they are on the move — but this time, literally.
New Hope Clinic (NHC) recently purchased a 28-foot van and transformed it into a clinic on wheels, appropriately called The Wellness Wagon. Then they bought a minivan and named it Care-a-Van, which is used to screen and enroll the patients. These two new vehicles will allow the clinic to serve low-income, underserved populations that live in locations too far away to travel to the clinic’s main facility in Southport.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially inaugurate this new mobile service was held on March 26 and cheered by a crowd of an estimated 75 enthusiastic New Hope supporters and friends. NHC Executive Director Sheila Roberts expressed her thanks to the volunteers, staff, major donors and supporters. She then introduced NHC Board Chair Cherie Browning, RN, who addressed the crowd. Roberts cut the ribbon and invited the guests to tour the Wellness Wagon and have some refreshments.
The impetus for the Wellness Wagon was a study published by Harvard Medical School in 2018 identifying the pockets of poverty in each state and the need for mobile units to address the situation. The NHC board proposed the mobile health project in 2019, but like so many other programs, it was put on hold during the pandemic and revived in 2023.
For the last two years, NHC has been securing funding for the van and minivan and all the equipment and operating expenses for one year, including insurance and gas.
Major donors included Cape Fear Memorial Foundation, iHeart Catholic Church, Ocean Ridge Charities Association, Southport Rotary, The Leon Levine Foundation, Landfall Foundation, Sacred Heart Church, The Catherine Kennedy Home Foundation, St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church, Philip L. Van Every Foundation, St. James Service Club, Southport Lions Club and General Federation of Women’s Clubs, plus several individual donors and fundraisers. Collectively they raised a total of $342,000.
The Wellness Wagon made its maiden run in December of 2024. They now have monthly visits scheduled for St. Brendan’s Church in Shallotte and have scheduled visits to The Bridge Presbyterian Church in Leland and the Brunswick County Government Center in Bolivia. Periodically they visit the Christian Recovery Center (CRCI) in Shallotte and its sister facility, Rose House in Calabash.
“We are ramping up slowly for the first 90 days,” Roberts said. “I’ll sleep better after those first 90 days and the van and wagon are fully utilized every day.”
Plans include attending community events and health fairs, faith-based communities and other nonprofit organizations that provide human services. The clinic now serves close to 500 patients a year, and the wagon, when fully utilized, will add an additional 200. It is estimated that there are 4,000 people in Brunswick County who meet the eligibility requirements to be treated by New Hope Clinic.
For each Wellness Wagon trip, a team of four people is required: either a MD, NP or PA, a nurse or medical assistant, a driver and a driver/receptionist for the Care-a-Van.
The wagon is fully outfitted to provide almost the same primary care, diagnostic tests and treatment of acute and chronic illnesses as the clinic’s main building in Boiling Spring Lakes. There is even a bathroom onboard so the staff can do urinary testing. They also offer patient education, referrals and follow-up support. The patient is counseled on where they can get additional treatment and support, such as Medicaid enrollment and follow-up medical services.
According to Greg McIntyre, a volunteer, for every visit a patient makes to the clinic, another five hours are required for follow-up. He said that is the part of the job that he likes the best. As a former ambulance driver, he said he never got to know the patients’ outcomes.
“In this job I can establish a relationship with the person and follow their progress, and I like that,” he said.
The day before the ribbon cutting, the Wellness Wagon and Care-a-Van had been to Rose House, an addiction recovery center for women in Calabash.
Dr. Jim Boston was part of the volunteer providers that morning. When asked what the patients said about this new service, Dr. Boston quoted them saying, “We’re so thankful that you come because we can’t come to you.” He went on to explain that the residents of Rose House cannot leave the premises for routine doctor visits so New Hope Clinic is their PCP.
Gretchen Bodinsky, their longest running board member and past board chair, could not help reminiscing about the clinic’s 27-year history. In 1998 a handful of visionary women met in a church in Southport and launched New Hope Clinic. That first year the clinic was open one evening a month in the church and served a total of 38 underserved, low-income residents.
Never could those original founders have imagined that 27 years later that clinic would be open five days a week, serve nearly 500 patients a year in a 4,000-square-foot facility and offer not only primary care and treatment, but also fill pharmaceutical prescriptions and provide hearing tests, dental services and vision screening.
And now they have a mobile unit to take their services to a broader geographic area. They continue to do all of this with a small staff and 130 volunteers.
The Wellness Wagon is the most recent step in New Hope Clinic’s series of service and facility expansions. And it is all thanks to a very ambitious, forward-looking executive director and a dedicated board of directors. As one person at the ribbon cutting put it, “The Wellness Wagon is a vision that has come to fruition.”
Find the Wellness Wagon
For the monthly calendar, go to New Hope Clinic’s website at newhopeclinicnc.org to see when they will be in your area.
Prospective patients are asked to call the clinic at (910) 845-5333 for a reservation; however, they will serve walk-ins when possible.
New Hope Clinic’s Main Clinic is at 201 W. Boiling Spring Road in Southport.
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