Here she comes!" Barbara shouted. "Dr. Wendy's here!" She grabbed the hand of her four-year-old son and rushed to meet the Mobile Medical Office. "I was so afraid I'd missed her. Joey's not feeling well." Barbara lives on the outskirts of Rio Dell and works part-time but has no medical benefits. She depends solely upon the Mobile Medical Office for her family's health care.

Suzi Bauer, Dr. Wendy Ring's medical assistant, parked the 38-foot motor home in front of the Rio Dell Elementary School. Marcia Matson, billing and intake receptionist, had ridden with her. Two volunteers, Shirley Hardin and Winifred Park, greeted them and helped to get ready for the patients. This involved blood pressures, temperatures and paper work before the patient sees the doctor. Dr. Ring had already driven ahead of them to Rio Dell with her dog, Elmo. The stairs of the motor home came down ready to receive Barbara, her son Joey, and everyone else who had come to see the doctor.

For the past ten years, Dr. Ring has taken her Mobile Medical Unit to rural areas where there was no doctor or transportation. Many of her patients are the working poor, people who have low-paying jobs and little or no medical coverage like Barbara and Joey.

Her first office was a 1968 24-foot travel trailer which she bought with her own money. Two years later, she upgraded to a 1987 travel trailer with an additional five feet of space. As the community became aware of the clinic's importance in serving unmet health needs in the county, it became the recipient of many grants, awards and sponsorships which enabled the Mobile Medical Office, now a nonprofit licensed community clinic, to purchase a new 1999 motor home. Its present office has two exam rooms, is wheel chair accessible, has space for medical records, medical equipment, and its own bathroom, all under a roof that doesn't leak. In 1999, the roving office provided 3,200 outpatient medical care and counseling visits.

"As a physician," said Dr. Ring, "I believe that access to health care is a basic human right which should not be denied on the basis of income, immigration status or national origin. We don't turn anyone away. Our strength is in our ability to work together and to take care of each other."

The Mobile Medical Office now provides health care to residents in Rio Dell, Blue Lake, Fortuna High School, Crescent City, and a walk-in clinic at St. Vincent's Dining Facility in Eureka. Primary medical care and preventive health services are offered, including treatment of acute and chronic diseases, well-child check-ups and immunizations, gynecological exams and family planning, minor office surgery and some laboratory services.

Because the Mobile Medical Clinic serves the poorest of the poor, their fees-for-service cover less than 70 percent of their expenses. Many of the services are provided free of charge. Private support is a vital part of their budget.

The clinic also depends upon volunteer help. "We couldn't do what we do without volunteers like Shirley and Winifred," said Suzi. "They help us out in many ways, with the clinics, making charts, passing out flyers. They're always there for hugs, too. It's such satisfying work, because people are so appreciative of what you do for them."

The money that Mobile Medical Office saves the county is substantial, not only through its preventive work but also in the treatment of patients who otherwise would end up in emergency rooms for primary care. "In all the years I've been doing this kind of work," said Suzi, "Wendy Ring spends the best quality time with the patients that I've ever seen in my whole life."

For its first fundraising event, the Mobile Medical Office is planning a celebration on Sunday, Sept. 24, 8 p.m. at Fulkerson Recital Hall, Humboldt State University. Pianists Felicia Oldfather, Luther Cobb and Fred Adler will perform in a concert of "Works for Two Pianos," by Brahms, Debussy, Milhaud, Schubert and Adler. Tickets are $20 each. Call Helen Renee Gale, Mobile's administrator, at 668-1795, for more exciting news about the musical evening, volunteering, or sponsorship. It's a great way to keep Dr. Wendy on the road.

Lucile Manley of McKinleyville also contributes Another Peak Experience each month to Senior News. Her e-mail address is lucile@htan.org.