UTC nursing student Carly Chastain takes a patient’s blood pressure at the Rhea Richland Senior Neighbors Center in Dayton, Tennessee. Photo by Angela Foster.
What began as a new idea to bring health care directly to rural communities has quickly become a growing presence across Southeast Tennessee.
Since launching in spring 2025, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Nursing’s MobileMOC medical outreach clinic has delivered preventive care, screenings, education and referrals to older adults and caregivers across rural counties, logging thousands of miles, thousands of patient touch points and hundreds of student learning hours through an interprofessional team spanning nursing, occupational therapy, social work, nutrition and advanced practice providers.
MobileMOC is a custom-built mobile health unit created through a $2.6 million grant from the Tennessee Department of Health as part of the ROAD MAP initiative. The clinic serves adults age 62 and older and their caregivers, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.
From April through December, MobileMOC made visits to senior centers and community sites in the Southeast Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability’s 10-county district, which includes Bledsoe, Bradley, Grundy, Hamilton, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea and Sequatchie counties.
“Mobile health is unique, and the MobileMOC program strategy, including partnering with senior centers, has been working out really well,” said Dr. Kristi Wick, UC Foundation associate professor and Vicky B. Gregg Chair of Gerontology in the UTC College of Nursing. “During the nine-month period, the MobileMOC team recorded 2,242 health care touch points, logged 7,529 miles traveled and provided more than 634 hours of hands-on learning for UTC students.”
Beyond overall reach, Wick said, MobileMOC’s first year “shows the breadth of services delivered through its interprofessional model, including 238 visits with an advanced practice registered nurse, 48 nursing consults, 30 occupational therapy consults, 31 nutrition consults and 18 social work consults.”
The program has emphasized prevention and follow-up through its Champions Club, a voluntary initiative that encourages older adults to complete key wellness activities such as annual exams and recommended screenings. As of December, 176 participants had enrolled in the program, which uses a checklist-based approach to promote healthy aging and sustained engagement with care.
“Having that many people joining the program already is pretty significant,” Wick said. “There are 14 items on that checklist that they’re all looking to complete in an effort to earn prizes, and they love it.”
MobileMOC’s early impact was recognized in November when the team received one of the first-ever Rural Age-Friendly Champion awards for Mobility and Independence at the annual Rural Health Association conference.
Building on that momentum, MobileMOC is expanding its reach in 2026 through new partnerships and additional service locations, increasing the number of sites from 10 to 12.
“Sites have been added through a partnership with Ocoee Regional Health, bringing services to clinics in Meigs, Grundy and Polk counties,” Wick said. “MobileMOC has also added monthly visits to Spring City Hall and Grandview Community Center in Rhea County, increasing our presence in that county to three sites per month.”
MobileMOC also begins the year with an expanded focus on cardiovascular health through a new Tennessee Department of Health grant titled “Connecting Community Partners: Breaking Down Barriers to Heart Health.”
The initiative will integrate blood pressure monitoring, education and follow-up care into MobileMOC’s existing services, with blood pressure kiosks being installed in senior centers in Bradley, McMinn, Meigs, Polk and Rhea counties. Readings indicating risk will trigger referrals for follow-up care, with data integrated into MobileMOC’s electronic health record system. Nurse practitioners and community health workers will provide follow-up visits and education on topics such as nutrition, stress, sleep, physical activity and smoking cessation.
The expansion continues MobileMOC’s dual mission as both a patient care resource and a learning platform for students preparing for health care careers.
“2026 promises to be an impactful year and we’re looking forward to expanding our reach,” Wick said.
A full schedule of MobileMOC sites and services is available at mobilemoc.org/calendar.
Learn more
