Amy Cummings, right, reviews new acquisitions Wednesday with Nurse Practitioner Ellen Taraschi, including disposable plastic speculums for providing Pap smears to homeless women in the mobile medical unit, run by Maine Family Planning. Cummings, the Mobile Medical Unit Coordinator, oversees the health care van parked at 16 Park St. in Lewiston. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — Maine Family Planning is known for its many services for affordable reproductive health, and since spring those services have gone mobile.

Health on Wheels is Maine Family Planning’s mobile medical unit, serving the Lewiston-to-Bangor stretch with scheduled stops in between.

“We wanted to bring services directly to individuals who face challenges accessing traditional health care settings,” said MFP regional director and mobile unit manager Shasta Newenham. “It’s about building trust and meeting patients where they are — literally.”

Over three recent Wednesdays, the van engaged 75 to 80 individuals and provided Pap smears to about 12 women.

Health on Wheels offers a variety of services including wound care, sexually transmitted infection testing, cervical cancer screenings, birth control and HIV prevention among others. In partnership with the Church of Safe Injection, the critical focus for nurses is on wound care, specifically injuries caused by xylazine, a substance that is often found in street drugs and can cause severe skin damage and could lead to amputation.

The unit works with syringe programs and visits encampments, like Camp Hope in Bangor where there is a known HIV cluster. The MFP team is always conducting on-foot outreach, but now plans to incorporate the mobile unit more extensively.

The unit’s team includes a roster of healthcare providers and support staff. Amy Cummings, the mobile medical unit coordinator, ensures the smooth operation of the unit while it’s out on the road while nurse practitioners Ellen Taraschi and Tiffany Eaton provide medical care. Jenny Zack tackles administrative tasks and the unit’s driver, Steve, keeps the clinic safely on the road and on schedule.

“The most rewarding part of this work is the reason why we wanted to get this unit,” Newenham said. “It’s building trust with individuals who have had difficult times with traditional healthcare settings in the past. It’s bringing services to individuals who have a hard time accessing them through our traditional brick and mortar clinics. We are non-judgmental, compassionate and our only goal is to help in any way that we can.”

The mobile unit provides virtually all the services MFP offers at its clinics. However, the team also provides information about their telehealth platform and helps schedule appointments at physical clinics if ever required.

“We want people to know that if they see us parked somewhere, they’re welcome to come up, ask questions, and access any of our services without hesitation,” Newenham said. “We’re here to help, without judgment, wherever and however we can.”

Organizations interested in partnering with MFP, should reach out to augustammu@mainefamilyplanning.org or by calling 1-207-922-3222.

Sun Journal staff photographer Andree Kehn contributed to this report.