Healthvan Makes House Calls to Remote Areas

SONORA, Calif. —  Ed Hoover shifted into low gear as the heavy van began the long winding climb up the Sierra wall to Groveland.

“They call it Priest’s Grade,” he said. “A fellow by that name had a hotel at the summit, which is Big Oak Flat, during the era following the Gold Rush. It was the main road to Yosemite Valley during the 1850s and 1860s. There were a number of mines where we are going like the Kanaka, the Big Betsy and the Mexican. A lot of gold was taken out of this part of the country. They used to bring supplies up to the mines over this same route by mule train. A wagon road wasn’t completed down to the valley’s floor until 1874.”

Hoover, 31, is director of the health promotion department for the Sonora Community Hospital, one of 10 hospitals operated in California by Adventist Health System West, a branch of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The mobile medical office he was driving is called Healthvan One, which was purchased and equipped by donations from residents of Sonora and surrounding communities. Its mission is to carry the message of preventive medicine into some of the more remote areas of Tuolumne County’s 2,274 square miles.

“I read that nearly 14% of the people living in our county are over 65, but that figure is growing,” Hoover said. “Many retired persons are moving up here to escape the pressures of city living. Sometimes they settle in areas far from medical attention, and they develop health problems they’re not aware of. This clinic on wheels has the capability of determining what many of these medical problems are. If they don’t have their own physicians, we can provide a list of those doctors who live near them.”

Medical Team

Accompanying Hoover on the van was a medical team consisting of Kevin Wilson, a respiratory therapist who conducts tests on a lung machine, Terry Nelson, a registered nurse who will be doing blood pressure tests, and Calvin Craig who heads the development office for the hospital and who quickly puts residents of the localities visited at ease as they board the van for a health screening.

“The lung test will pick up small airway obstructions as well as large ones,” Hoover explained. “It can detect the early signs of emphysema or a tumor. We also act as a health information center. For those we find with elevated blood pressure levels--hypertension, we give them literature explaining how high blood pressure can be better controlled by reducing their intake of sodium and reducing their weight.”

The van reached Groveland, a former mining center that has attracted many new residents. “We’re but a short distance from Yosemite,” Hoover said. “Lots of people bound for there discovered the beauty of this area and have bought property around here. They once called this town Carrote, because a horse thief was hanged here in 1850s. Sometime during the 1870s, local citizens decided to give the place a more dignified name. So they called it Groveland.

“Our program isn’t aimed primarily at the retired residents. We test people of all ages, covering the full spectrum from youngsters to senior citizens. We work with the county schools department.”

Hoover parked the van in a small park where people were already waiting. “We advertise the date of our arrival in the Sonora newspaper,” he added. “The word gets around.”

Residents entering the van were asked if they’d like to fill out questionnaires for the health age appraisal. Most did, giving their age, height and weight, and answering questions on how many hours of sleep they average per night, their eating habits, whether they exercise regularly, how many drinks they have at a sitting and if they smoke.

Data Fed to Computer

This data is fed into the van’s computer and the individual receives a print-out. The evaluation can be sobering. The appraisal estimates the person’s longevity depending on health practices. Some years can be added if good health recommendations are followed. One printout advised a 35-year-old man to follow a regular exercise program three to four times a week, or more, reduce his intake of alcoholic beverages and reduce his weight.

“It gives the person an idea of how they are physiologically,” Hoover pointed out. “This is designed to be a life style educational tool as opposed to a diagnostic evaluation. It can be an incentive to change your ways and add some years to your life.”

The van’s computer can be set for a variety of programs. One is a nutrition profile that analyzes a person’s diet, making recommendations for improvement. Another is a heart risk appraisal, which compiles a report on how to lower the risk of a heart attack after analyzing a blood test.

Hoover was raised in Los Angeles. He attended Pacific Union College near Napa, a Seventh-day Adventist college where he acquired a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science and a master’s degree in marriage, family and child counseling. He served as education coordinator for the alcohol and mental health unit at Glendale Adventist Medical Center from 1978 to 1980. He obtained his present position in 1981. Hoover lives in Sonora with his wife, Sandy, and 9-month-old son, Loren.

The commitment to keep people healthy--not just to get them well has characterized Adventist health care since 1866 with the opening of a small facility in Battle Creek, Mich. Its initial program is what today would be called preventive medicine.

Ivan Leigh Warden, director of urban ministries for the Southern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists based in Glendale, says that their Health on Wheels program has been operating for eight years. A medical team does hypertension screening, tests for glaucoma and teaches people how to control weight. Its van travels to shopping centers, parks and Adventist churches throughout the Los Angeles area to do diagnostic studies.

“We go from the barrios of East Los Angeles to Beverly Hills,” Warden said. “We have the resources of staff and the commitment to serve. Religion has nothing to do with it. We cover Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and we’re able to screen thousands of people each year.”

Aiding in the project is Shirley Ruckle, RN, who volunteers her time as assistant director of hypertension screening. She counsels on nutrition, exercise, stress, caffeine and hypertension.

Warden works closely with local pastors, bringing the van to various communities. There are about 120 churches in the Southern California Conference. Some of the topics covered by lectures are on stress management, a plan to stop smoking, vegetarian gourmet cooking and the necessity for exercise. Again, as in Sonora, people of every religious faith are invited to participate in the programs.

“Preventive medicine is learning ways to slow or eliminate some of the degenerative diseases,” director Tom Neslund said. “Because the Los Angeles community has such a diversity of ethnic groups, we arrange to have speakers who are fluent in various languages, such as Korean, Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese.”

Audray Johnson RN is in charge of health and family ministry for the Southeastern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventist based in Riverside. Her area covers Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Imperial counties, where they have 43,000 members.

“We have a van that goes to fairs and shopping malls in Riverside and San Bernardino counties,” she said. “Mainly, they do blood pressure screening. So many people are not aware they have high blood pressure. We do counseling throughout the conference. This covers a wide range of topics: marriage, family and child counseling. There are lecture seminars on nutrition, smoking, stress, parenting, how to prevent heart disease, cancer risk reduction, to mention a few. These programs are conducted in churches throughout the conference from Needles to El Centro to San Diego. The lectures are open to any denomination. One of the thrills of this work is seeing people making life style changes that improve the quality of their lives.”