The Free Clinic on Wheels, affectionately known as the FCOW, began several years ago with an idea and an opportunity. With the help of Shirley Barnes, Walter Ozkowski and Emily Jewell, MD the free clinic began its mobile clinic journey. The mobile clinic is a retired short school bus that has been repainted and modified to serve clients at farms. The idea was to serve farmers and farm employees at their place of work to ensure that they had a medical visit. CCFC felt that this specific demographic was not making time to visit the doctor.
An FCOW clinic day consists of leaving the CCFC clinic in the morning shuttling volunteers and supplies to a farm within a 45-minute radius of Dodgeville. The volunteers consist of a provider, nurses, interpreters, clerical staff and social workers. Together the volunteer team triages, provides a medical visit with a provider, draws ordered labs, helps fulfill other unmet needs and prescribes needed medications. The clinic lasts for several hours and is very popular with volunteers and clients alike.
The FCOW partners with area county health departments to provide vaccinations and other health related information. CCFC attends the Iowa County Dairy Breakfast each year to provide blood pressure checks to the attendees from the FCOW. These are all services that align with the CCFC mission.