MILAM COUNTY, Texas (KRHD) — The service provides our neighbors with a private space to meet with a healthcare professional for free. A visit includes checking vitals and normal operations that an in-person clinic would provide.
- Inside the sheriff's office, the OnMed CareStation is where our neighbors are using high-tech tools to help locals keep an eye on their health and meet with a healthcare professional through a big screen.
- The OnMed CareStation is free for our neighbors, even if you don't have health insurance.
- If you need a prescription, it will be sent digitally to your pharmacy of choice.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
When you touch the start button on the screen inside the OnMed CareStation, you are greeted with the following message: Thank you for choosing OnMed, one moment while we connect you.
"It was very unique…and very helpful," said Mary Taylor, a resident of Cameron.
"Let me just go ahead and fog the glass for you and give you some privacy," Dallas Barber, an OnMed Representative, said while explaining how the service works.
Mary Taylor has been using the OnMed CareStation at the Milam County Sheriff's Office to help her monitor her health.
"They take your blood pressure, your pulse, they can listen to your lungs, your heart, your vital signs, they can get all of that," said Taylor. "So it's very helpful and useful to me [and] my kids."
15 ABC asked Taylor if the service was easy to use.
"Yes, it's very easy."
"We'll use the diagnostic tools you see here in the station to collect their vitals," said Barber. "So we have the blood pressure cuff next to you for their blood pressure readings, the pulse oximeter is attached to the side of that for their oxygen levels and heart rate."
"I like the fact that she was able to listen to my lungs and she was able to get my blood pressure," said Taylor.
The station goes through general demographics and medical history -- just as would happen at an in-person clinic.
"The larger device coming down there is the HD camera, and that will allow us to treat skin, throat, and eye complaints," said Barber. "And the one beside it is the stethoscope, which will allow the clinicians to listen to those internal lung sounds."
With no hospital in Milam County, this is another option outside of local clinics that can get busy.
"It's hard to get in sometimes, so this is a great spot for people to come and get looked at medically," said Milam County Sheriff Mike Clore.
It's a benefit to our neighbors right down the road.
"Especially in our rural communities where we know there's a shortage in primary care and also a shortage in hospitals, it's very important for us to give access at no cost," said O'neil Clarke, Community Marketing Manager for OnMed.
