WKU President, Gary Ransdell, and Institute of Rural Health director, Dr. Lisa Durham, participate in a ribbon cutting ceremony with Anthem officials in front of the new Mobile Health Unit

BOWLING GREEN, KY. - A $300,000 gift from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation to Western Kentucky University has been used to purchase a medical mobile health unit.

The unit, operated by WKU’s Institute for Rural Health Development and Research (IRHDR), will travel the area and provide free immunizations and health screenings to thousands of residents in the region. The gift also provides partial funding for the salary of a nurse practitioner and medial supplies.

“This unit will allow us to expand the amount of services we are able to provide, while continuing to address many of the health issues facing our state. Institute Director Dr. Lisa Durham said. “Our existing health unit will now be dedicated to providing dental services to residents within the area. Additionally, both units support our ongoing focus of identifying opportunities for greater student engagement within the communities we serve.”

The WKU/Anthem Foundation Medical Mobile Health and Wellness Unit will concentrate on influenza and pneumonia immunizations for senior adults and programs in the management of diabetes and obesity, heart disease prevention and smoking cessation. According to Deb Moessner, president and general manager of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the services the unit will provide address many of the health issues and diseases Anthem is seeking to improve through the State Health Index initiative, which was introduced last year.

“Through our index we are focusing our efforts on many of the diseases and chronic illnesses that has led to Kentucky being consistently identified as one of the unhealthiest state in our country,” Moessner said. “Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is committed to reversing this trend and the expertise, resources and proven track record WKU has in addressing these health issues made this initiative key to our long term success.”

WKU President Gary Ransdell said the partnership with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield also reflects the university’s continued focus on working with businesses to solve many of the challenges facing WKU’s service region.

“Part of WKU’s mission is to improve the quality of life for our region and Commonwealth,” Dr. Ransdell said. “Partnerships like these play an extremely important role in fulfilling that part of our mission as well as educating our students through realworld experiences.”

WKU’s first unit was placed into service in 2001 when the IRHDR was created through an initial $670,000 federal grant secured by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (RKy) for WKU’s rural health initiative. The initiative received an additional $500,000 in 2001 as part of an $8.6 million Congressional appropriation for WKU.