MONTAGUE — The Community Health Center of Franklin County is getting ready to hit the road.

The nonprofit health center serving Franklin County and the North Quabbin region received its Mobile Health Unit earlier this month, which will help it bring full primary care services to patients at farms, rural areas and others who can’t get to the office.

As the Community Health Center of Franklin County gets the vehicle ready to serve patients across the region, it is looking to raise $70,000 to cover the rest of the capital costs of the project. The agency received a $200,000 grant from the Connecticut River Valley Farmworker Health Program to purchase the vehicle and is seeking the community’s help to make up the difference.

“We can do anything in here that we can do in the office. It is a primary care office on wheels,” said Dr. Allison van der Velden, CEO of the Community Health Center of Franklin County. “With the grant funding, which we’re grateful for, it’s sort of the catalyst for us to be able to do it now, to kind of get us over the hump.”

The Community Health Center of Franklin County’s services include primary and medical care, behavioral health services, pediatric care, reproductive care, addiction treatment services and dental care, among others.

Van der Velden said the main goal of the Mobile Health Unit is to cast the center’s net wider by providing even more opportunities for people to access important primary care services.

“If we can ease the way a little bit, make the introduction, connect people to the health center, that will also be a benefit. … This will be great for connecting folks to care,” van der Velden said, noting that the center has a few other transportation options for people, too.

That goal also ties into the Franklin Regional Council of Governments’ Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), an effort to bring together resources and community members to improve policies, systems and the environment where people live.

Specifically, a main focus of the 2024-2028 CHIP is to expand access to clinical health care in the region, especially to those with limiting factors, such as a lack of transportation.

“If you don’t have a car or you’re not able to drive your own car … whatever it is, it means you don’t get care,” van der Velden said, adding that patients often have a better experience with care when they receive it in a familiar location. “If we’re able to bring this to other places, we’ll be able to help bridge that gap.”

Phoebe Walker, FRCOG’s director of community services, said launching the Mobile Health Unit will make a big difference in the region.

“The health center’s new mobile primary care unit meets an urgent need for better access to health care in our region,” said Walker, who is also vice president of the health center’s board of directors. “Increasing access to medical providers for people who live in our most rural areas — like those in the hilltowns or working on farms — is a priority of the 2024-28 Community Health Improvement Plan for our region, so this development is a great step forward.”

The GoFundMe can be found at bit.ly/45Ac5od. The Community Health Center also plans to explore more grant opportunities and getting help from private foundations for additional funding.

For more information about the Community Health Center of Franklin County, visit chcfc.org. The center has locations at 102 Main St. in Greenfield, 8 Burnham St. in Turners Falls and 119 New Athol Road in Orange.

As congressional discussions about Medicaid cuts and other services continue, van der Velden emphasized that the Community Health Center is here for residents. It is accepting new primary care patients and folks can learn more on the website.

“We’re dedicated to doing everything that we can to maintain access and hopefully improve it because it isn’t good enough now,” van der Velden said. “We’re paying close attention to developments that could impact funding streams, like Medicaid.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.