A Florida-based technology company is delivering health care solutions to people living without housing in Tampa — and it's coming in the shape of a box.
The OnMed CareStation is an 8-by-11-foot self-enclosed pod that plugs into the wall and resembles an exam room. It's equipped with thermal imaging, medical devices to take vital signs like blood pressure and a high-definition camera for real-time video chats with teleheath providers.
In partnership with Tampa General Hospital, Catholic Charities and OnMed, the city of Tampa has provided a CareStation at Tampa Hope since October.
In the eight months Sam Harris has lived at the shelter, he's suffered two strokes. The 65-year-old said the CareStation has given him peace of mind.
"I do like .. .the machine because you can go in at any time you want to and take your vitals. There's a blood pressure machine. There's a camera so you can see the practitioner, and they will call the ambulance for you if your vitals are way out of whack," Harris said.
Harris added that the CareStation has reduced his transportation and cost barriers to the regular checkups he needs.
On Wednesday, city and health care leaders gathered at the shelter in east Tampa to celebrate the new technology in a belated ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The executive director for Catholic Charities, Maggie Rogers, said that there's been a 50% reduction in emergency calls from Tampa Hope during the last three months of the 2024 since the CareStation has been available.
"And so really, the benefit ... is that they have access to see doctors, but then we're not taking the time away from the emergency room doctors that need to be with other patients," Rogers said.
Mayor Jane Castor echoed the sentiment that improving health care accessibility to the city's homeless population makes good economic sense.
"If you think about how much it costs to take someone to the emergency room, taking up the time of the paramedics, the transportation, not to mention the medical care, this OnMed will pay for itself in short order."
OnMed, which calls the technology a "clinic in a box", has placed CareStations in community centers, universities and prisons across six states. The one at Tampa Hope is the first at a homeless shelter.
Aside from $1 million in city funds provided through Catholic Charities, the first year of the CareStation's installment was funded by Tampa General Hospital and the McNamara Family Foundation.
Castor said she doesn't expect finding future funding for the technology to be an issue.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. She's also a Report for America corps member. Here’s how you can share your story with her.
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