Inside, the mobile centers look like a regular healthcare provider’s office, with private exam areas, waiting areas, nurses’ station and an area to draw blood. They are equipped with fetal monitors, ultrasound, and other equipment and a backup generator.

There are three such Mobile Health Centers that were paid for with a $3 million gift from the people of Qatar as part of the $100 million Qatar Katrina Fund. The Fund was established by the Amir of Qatar, H.H. Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, in September 2005 to provide direct assistance to people and institutions in most dire need in the wake of the storm. The New Orleans Mobile Health Centers will be staffed by the Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans (DCSNO) and partnering agencies of the Partnership for Access to Health Care (PATH) and will begin operations in March. This collaborative effort made possible by the March of Dimes and its partners is unprecedented and unique for the greater New Orleans region and hopefully will be a model for others to follow.

The handicap accessible centers have bilingual staff, including an obstetrician, nurse practitioner or midwife, a nurse, lab technician and an outreach worker.  They will serve the New Orleans, and other areas that lack adequate maternal and infant health services. The vehicles will have a fixed schedule at consistent locations each week so services will be dependable and expected. However, the schedule may change as health care providers return to the targeted communities.  The Mobile Health Centers will provide about 15,000 visits in three years.