ASHLAND — When Christina Spring decided to start offering her healthcare services in a mobile format in December of 2023, she said it was fulfilling a long-term dream.
She knew demand for the service existed. She’d worked in healthcare since 2002, and said she saw who fell through the gaps of the healthcare system in Ashland County.
Between senior citizens who may struggle to leave their homes, people with mobility issues, a large Amish population in the county and people lacking insurance or on insurance with high deductibles, Spring said many groups of people might not have access to the healthcare they need.
A family nurse practitioner by trade, Spring said opening a mobile medical option has always been a goal of hers.
She’s able to do all the things she would as a nurse practitioner in a more traditional setting, from medical refills to sports physicals. The big difference: She meets people where they are, showing up at their homes to take care of them.
Now, eight months into putting her dream into practice, Spring’s business, Ashland MobileMed, is booming.
She went from running Ashland MobileMed part-time, to a full-time schedule. Her patient load, she said, sits at 170 people. She’s gained more through word-of-mouth and local agencies, like the Ashland Area Agency on Aging, referring patients to her.
On Thursday afternoon, Spring celebrated her success thus far with a ribbon cutting, hosted by the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I just love having the ability to practice medicine the way it was intended,” Spring said.
Underscoring the need
State Rep. Melanie Miller, who attended the ribbon cutting and presented Spring with a proclamation from the House of Representatives, shared that she serves on the House’s health provider services committee.
Miller’s spelled out the need for a service like Spring’s in her comments at the ribbon cutting. She said she’d heard lots of stories of people struggling to gain access to healthcare, particularly in rural areas of Ohio.
Miller also highlighted that several hospitals in the state have closed their labor units.
Ashland’s own UH Samaritan Medical Center was among them. It announced last year it’d no longer deliver babies, meaning expectant mothers in Ashland County have to travel elsewhere to give birth.
Plus, Miller said she thought there had been a loss of some trust in the healthcare field as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With all those factors in play, Miller said she looked forward to seeing Spring provide another healthcare option for Ashland County citizens.
Spring also received recognition from the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce, and from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office.
Meeting people where they’re at
When Spring goes on visits, she said she brings one bag with her computer and paperwork, and another with all her medical equipment.
She said she has found low-cost healthcare options for people with no insurance, or those who have high deductibles.
Spring charges $100 for house calls, and $50 for video calls.
Spring said when she worked in corporate health, she felt a squeeze to get patients in and out the door as quickly as possible. But now, she blocks out an hour to spend with her patients.
And in her view, getting to be face-to-face with and listening to her patients makes all the difference.