The new Wellness on Wheels van. (Submitted photo/Paved to Pines)

By Ian Gustafson

Custom Wheels

Prince Albert Grand Council to receive specialty van to expand healthcare

Oct 7, 2021 | 5:00 PM

A new specialty van for further medical care in the northern communities in Saskatchewan will soon be operational for the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC).

Paved to Pines, a Prince Albert based company who converts school buses and vans into custom camper vehicles, partnered up with the PAGC to create the medical vehicle called ‘Wellness on Wheels.’

The local company made an appearance on CBC’s Dragons’ Den in December last year.

Co-founder of Paved to Pines Steven Glass told paNOW their partnership with the PAGC has been a great pairing. Originally, they considered the idea of a medical bus they were going to pitch to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) stemming from an idea a year ago looking at safe injection sites and how they were losing some funding.

The front half of the new Wellness on Wheels van. (Submitted photo/Paved to Pines)

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They brainstormed ideas on how their bus conversions could appeal to the SHA, however, Glass said the PAGC heard about their business and reached out looking for a similar project.

“They were looking for a mobile solution for, more or less, the vaccines right now…they needed a way to gain some access to northern healthcare,” Glass said.

The PAGC has had their first viewing with the vehicle but are not in possession of it quite yet, but Glass said they should have it shortly.

Glass explained Paved to Pines are always looking for creative ways they can connect with the community. This idea is something Paved to Pines wants to bring across Canada, not just in their local communities and province. Their client base is 50 per cent in Canada and 50 per cent from the U.S.

“We’re really happy with how this medical unit turned out and we could see it being applied to a lot of different avenues that could be anything from more northern communities that need this type of assistance, or SHA based. Or even the mining communities and things like that that need onsite healthcare,” he said.

The area where the doctor or nurse can examine the patients. (Submitted photo/Paved to Pines)

The van includes plenty of storage for medical supplies, specifics of refrigeration and air conditioning for vaccine transport, a doctors office type of bed which converts to a sample station with a built-in toilet with a privacy curtain. Up front is also separated with a curtain with a dinette and a lounge area. The vehicle can transfer up to four adults.

“The idea was we wanted to separate the front into kind of medical staff, they could be doing some work up there with the curtain drawn and then the rear of the van, the bulk of it is the patient centre whether a doctor or nurse could be in there working with the patient,” he explained.

Communicable disease outreach nurse with the PAGC Anthony Blackburn said the plan pre-COVID-19 pandemic was to have a mobile unit to enter northern communities and focus on sexual and holistic health but, because of the pandemic, can be used for immunizing, education, and mobile testing.

“It’s kind of a rollout plan for all together since we’re in this all together,” Blackburn said.

He explained there are a few things they’re waiting on to finish the van, but Blackburn said when they do get the van, they anticipate they will put it to use travelling to their communities for COVID use whether it’s testing, or vaccine related.

“The idea was to, if we get going on it and things are working out, whether to have more units out there or to have kind of an expansion of mobile health,” he said. “And our whole goal of PAGC was to have a holistic health so we had an art design for the physical design of the van and to hit all groups for any sort of education not just PAGC owned or PAGC run. It was for everyone.”

Some options for storage and cooling for vaccine transport. (Submitted photo/Paved to Pines)

Shirley Woods, director of Health and Social Development at the PAGC said she thinks the different approach and the uniqueness of the idea will draw people to come and see what it is.

“It does provide us a place to work out of in the communities,” she said. “We hope once COVID is over that we’ll be able to attend treaty days where large numbers of people may be gathering and be able to offer that testing and those services.”

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Ian.Gustafson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @IanGustafson12