Newark, N.J.-based University Hospital teamed up with the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the Tuchman Foundation to build mobile medical clinics to support care in areas experiencing disease surges.
The modules, which are developed from 40-foot-long repurposed shipping containers, will be deployed to areas of surging disease outbreaks and other disasters as well as regions that lack healthcare infrastructure, according to a July 16 news release. The units can be configured to support various medical services, including clinical point-of-care services and testing and treatment of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
University Hospital launched two of the mobile medical clinics last week to provide a registration/triage area, a patient waiting room and two testing and exam rooms. University Hospital medical personnel have tested the units for their effectiveness as triage centers, and the collaborations' phase 1 prototype will focus on healthcare provisioning, including initial COVID-19 point-of-care exam and testing. The organizations may roll out a phase 2 model, which would feature an airborne infection isolation room required to treat and manage critical patients.
The New Jersey Institute of Technology provides architectural design, management and technological support for the project, while University Hospital oversees the units' clinical use and regulatory requirements. The hospital's clinical team also runs the simulations to assess efficiency of clinical workflows in the mobile units. The Tuchman Foundation, a nonprofit healthcare research organization, provided initial funding to create the prototype.
"The COVID-19 public health emergency has impacted every facet of our lives. But one of the bright spots has been the innovation it has sparked between the hospital and partners like NJIT," University Hospital President and CEO Shereef Elnahal, MD, said. "The work between University Hospital and NJIT and The Tuchman Foundation exemplifies a new era for the hospital, which now promises to be a bright spot for innovation in New Jersey."