BayCare Brings Primary Care Services to SPC Faculty and Staff
Barbara Weaver, student life and leadership coordinator at St. Petersburg College (SPC), doesn’t always find time to go to the doctor.
But she was thankful to see a physician when BayCare brought primary care services to her Seminole campus as part a new service to help employers keep their employees healthy.
“Thank you BayCare for bringing the doctor to me,” Weaver said. “I don’t have a primary care physician, and this helped me get a physical health and wellness exam for the first time in a while.”
Weaver took part in PCP 2 You, the new initiative that BayCare Employer Solutions and BayCare Medical Group launched to help provide access to primary care services to local businesses. BayCare uses a state-of the art mobile bus with the full capabilities of a doctor’s office to provide this convenient service.
“As a community-driven health system, our goal is to help keep people healthy in the community in which we serve,” said Donna St. Louis, RN, vice president for Business Development at BayCare. “This service allows employers to engage their employees in their own health and detect any preventable diseases early.”
SPC was one of the first employers in the Tampa Bay area to participate in this service for several of its campuses. BayCare brought its mobile bus to SPC’s Seminole campus on Dec. 8 where faculty and staff received their annual health and wellness exams after making an appointment.
Frank Jurkovic, who received a physician exam at the Seminole campus, was grateful for this service.
“My visit was quick, smooth and convenient, and clinical staff was friendly,” said Jurkovic, who is the director of international programs at SPC. “I completed my registration, checked my vitals and saw a doctor in just a few minutes. I popped in and out and back to work in a short time.”
The mobile bus gives patients the full experience of a doctor’s visit. Brandon Steinberg, MD, primary care physician with BayCare Medical Group, said the service is helpful to people who don’t have access to a primary care doctor. It also helps doctors detect preventable health issues like heart disease, diabetes, and breast, colon and prostate cancers early, he said.
“As a physician, it’s exciting to bring our services to people in a convenient, safe and efficient way,” said Dr. Steinberg, who was seeing patients at the Seminole campus. “The bus is set up like a primary care clinic. We’re able to check the patient’s vitals and perform a physical wellness exam quickly, and, if needed, do follow up visits into our clinic and send them for further testing and evaluations.”
As COVID-19 continues to affect the Tampa Bay area, BayCare has enhanced its safety protocols to ensure every patient is safe during their visit. BayCare set up the bus in open parking spaces where patients pre-register outside before completing their visits. BayCare also minimized the number of clinical team members inside the bus to only the physician and medical assistant. Team members and patients are also required to wear masks at all times.
“It felt safe during the whole visit,” said Jurkovic. “The room was very clean, and the doctor and the medical assistant were wearing masks at all times.”
BayCare Employer Solutions will continue to work with BayCare Medical Group to provide this service to more employers in the local community moving forward. BayCare’s goal is to provide easy access to a doctor to busy workers and help them stay healthy.
“Regular visits with a doctor can help detect many preventable diseases much early,” St. Louis said. “This can help people live a higher-quality of life and help them stay out of the hospital,”
For more information on BayCare Employer Solutions initiatives, click here.
