South Bend Clinic ready to help sick patients after RV donation

GRANGER, Ind. - Outdoor clinics are nothing new. They can be made from tents or ambulances, but what about an RV? That's exactly what the South Bend Clinic is doing at its Granger location on Day Road after two donations that are about 50 feet in length each.

Jayco RV's donated two toy haulers that the clinic has converted into two outdoor facilities.

The idea behind this was to create an adequate and safe way of helping patients who are showing symptoms of sickness.

"Basically, what we were able to do was create a safe environment for our staff, our physicians and the patients in that we can see patients even with possibly COVID outside of the emergency rooms and hospitals that are going to get overrun," said Dr. Brian Huber, the department chair of the South Bend Clinic's Convenient Care Line. "This was just a unique way for the South Bend Clinic to provide an outpatient service to the sick people here in Michiana."

The reason these trailers are safe is because they are set up to where staff can clear the air. Both trailers are set up in two sealed-off sections. A symptomatic patient goes into one section to be examined, and then the germ-filled air is swapped out with the clean air from the other section.

Dr. Huber said this partnership could pave the way to get emergency rooms and hospitals the relief they need during this pandemic.

"I think that's the really inspiring part of this unfortunate time is that people are figuring it out, and everybody's trying to work  together and come together. I think this has the ability to keep some ER's less busy, and in the end I think that's going to be a huge success for the community."

Jayco could not be reached for comment but in a statemnt, Jayco's parent company, Thor Industries, said "As the world faces the massive challenge of the pandemic, we view it as our obligation to stand in support of the fight against its spread and to be part of the solution. On a daily basis, our management team meets to assess the situation and to identify and take necessary actions to help our communities where our team members and their families live. We are committed to emerge from this crisis and, along with the rest of the world, we will seize opportunities to contribute what we can to help life get back to normal. As we all know, the pandemic has caused global shortages of essential materials to fight its spread. THOR is focused on being a part of the solution where we can. Whether it be donations of face masks and other protective gear or the gifting of travel trailers to be used by those affected, including the brave and tireless people who are fighting for us all on the front lines, the THOR companies in the U.S. and in Europe have and will continue to heed the call to action. Furthermore, we stand united with our dealer partners who have taken action in their communities to provide RVs to various agencies, including but not limited to first responders and healthcare facilities. I’m very proud to be associated with an industry which responds in moments of crisis and our subsidiaries who took action on their own to assist local agencies.”