CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On Wednesday, Robstown residents had a chance to visit a walk in mobile clinic to get checked up. Those who came to the clinic either do not have insurance or reliable transportation.
But is this clinic the solution or is it just a Band-Aid on a much bigger issue?
Robstown resident Jocelynn Sandoval said she can’t remember the last time she got checked up and she is thankful for these opportunities.
"The mobile clinic is really an advantage for some people like me that do not have any health insurance you know it is an opportunity to get yourself checked," Sandoval said.
According to Cenus data, 31.6% of people under the age of 65 in Robstown do not have health insurance and 30% of people in Robstown live in poverty.
"Not having health coverage is hard, especially for us families that we have kids and stuff like that, it is not easy they always say you’re overqualified or you do not qualify," Sandoval said.
The Nueces County Director of Health and Wellness Xavier Gonzales said the goal is to make opportunities like this more accessible.
Gonzales said there are quite of few locals who don't have health insurance or reliable transportation.
"It will tackle the issue by allowing the people to know that they can get medical services they can get health services and that it is being made available to them so that know they can take that opportunity and utilize it," Gonzales said.
Gonzales also said there should not be barriers for people to be able to get checked out.
"If I just say let’s just tackle health insurance that is not an easy fix, we got to see what other sources we have as an entire community," Gonzales said.
Sandoval said that the best way to tackle the issues is to make sure the concerns of the community should be heard.
"I do not know what else can be done to change this, other than offering things like this to us people that really could use this," Sandoval said.
Residents agree just having a mobile clinic every now and then is a step in the right direction but it's still just a first step until a permanent solution is found.
