The Comprehensive Community Action Program (CCAP) is preparing to deliver medical care to those who may need it most.

CCAP’s new medical van will travel to different locations throughout the state to help reach people in need of medical checkups. Over the past couple of weeks, the vehicle has been parked for the day outside the Pilgrim Senior Center, the Warwick Public Library, City Park and Doric Park in Cranston.

The van is outfitted with two fully-stocked doctor’s offices, that offer  typical primary care and other services..

“It’s full-functioning, primary-care type services,” CCAP Assistant VP of Ambulatory and Behavioral Health Gina Eubank said. “We also realized that there may be people who are looking to get stitches taken out, or maybe some wound care, things like that, as well, but really, we’re hoping patients will treat it like a primary care doctor’s office.”

CCAP received a one-time grant to fund the purchase of the vehicle, but it does not receive any funding for its operations. The van itself is restricted to its coverage area of Cranston, Warwick and Coventry, though Eubank said that anyone can be served in the van, regardless of insurance status or where they live.

Eubank said the organization aims to have the van ready to serve patients before the end of May.

“I would say [health care should start] probably within the next four to six weeks, if not sooner,” Eubank said. “We have everything squared away now with insurance coverage and seeking approval from health plans, so if we do health care on there, we’ll be able to actually bill for that.”

Supply-chain related snags encountered while acquiring the van more than a year ago kept the program from getting off the ground until now.

According to Warwick Director of Senior Services Meg Underwood, the visit to the Senior Center was important to help advertise the upcoming program to frequent visitors.

“A lot of older adults can’t get to the doctor as often as they want or don’t get to the doctor as often as they want,” Underwood said. “That medical van is very state-of-the-art.”

Underwood said that while the van hasn’t  served  anyone at the center, visitors stopped throughout the day to take a look inside the vehicle, where CCAP employees showed them around and gave out water bottles.

Dental services that the van offers, Underwood said, will be especially important for those at the Pilgrim Senior Center looking for services. A dental hygienist was present at the recent center visit, though they did not serve any patients.

“Dental health affects overall health,” Underwood said. “That’s another area where older adults sometimes don’t tend to, so that’s hugely important.”

The van is set to visit two Cranston locations later this week- Brayton Park in Cranston on Thursday, and Dave’s Fresh  Marketplace  in Cranston on Friday.

Eubank noted that the list of places that CCAP’s van would stop has not been finalized and they are looking for  more locations.

Eubank hopes that the van will be able to reach patients that CCAP otherwise could not, and improve the overall health of those who need it the most.

“Breaking down these barriers, where maybe they don’t have travel, maybe they can’t afford a bus pass, all of those things that might get in their way of actually getting to a doctor’s office,” Eubank said. “We’re really just hoping to bring services to people who aren’t getting them now or feel there are barriers for them to get those services.”