Your Guide to Using Grant Money for a Mobile Specialty Vehicle

Mobile specialty vehicles are an extremely beneficial addition to medical clinics of all kinds. Utilized to offer specialized services, these units can travel to areas where they are needed the most. This allows service workers to reach sectors of the community that often forgo the medical care that they need.

But, as is true with any additional equipment or personnel needs, acquiring a mobile specialty vehicle comes with a cost. For clinics that are strapped for funding, this can be a difficult investment to make upfront.

The good news is that many medical teams are tapping into grant money to help fund this critical service. This guide will help you learn more about the basics of acquiring and utilizing grant money for your mobile specialty vehicle.

How to Acquire a Grant for a Mobile Medical Unit

While there is ample funding available for medical teams that are interested in adding a mobile specialty vehicle to their clinic, acquiring that funding requires planning and strategy. It all begins by identifying the purpose of the unit and the unique need it will meet.

Identify a Cause

Much of the funding dedicated to mobile medical units revolves around specific causes or community needs. The following are all potential ideas for what needs your medical unit could meet:

• Reaching a Rural Community: If your clinic operates near a rural community, you might be eligible to receive funding for a mobile clinic if you plan to use the vehicle to reach those living in rural areas.
• Providing Medical Resources in a Medical Desert: In many cities, there are areas deemed as medical deserts where community members do not have easy access to the healthcare services they need. If your mobile specialty vehicle will help reach these underserved populations, you can often win grant money specifically targeting medical deserts.
• Offering Pandemic-Related Services: With the pandemic came an increased need for medical care, particularly mobile services. Whether you’re opening a vaccination clinic or mobile COVID-19 testing unit, there are many federal funds dedicated to pandemic-related services.
• Targeting Specific Medical Screenings: Screening for cancer and other diseases early and often can help lower health risks. In this vein, federal funding exists to help target specific medical screening services, such as promoting mammograms, prostate cancer screening, HIV testing, and more. Focusing on a specific medical screening can help you secure grant money centered around that cause.

Create a Business Plan and Strategy

Part of the grant application process will involve clearly outlining how the money will be used. Before applying for money, make sure you have a business plan and a long-term strategy for the vehicle’s use. This should cover everything from the specific purpose of the vehicle to your plan for staffing the vehicle. The more detailed your business plan, the better your chances of winning grant money.

Apply for Funding

Applying for a grant is a fairly complex process. For this reason, many businesses will either hire a grant writer to assist with the research and application process, or they will pay to have one of their employees trained in the process. Grant writing involves finding the right opportunities, creating a compelling story around the application, and including all the right information and business details necessary.

When looking for places to apply for funding, the following list can be a beneficial jumping off point for medical teams:

• For general federal grants, visit grants.gov.
• For COVID-19 specific grants, visit Coronavirus (COVID-19) Grant Opportunities and Guidance.
• For funding specific to rural areas, check out Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) – Funding & Opportunities.

Using Your Grant Money for a Mobile Specialty Vehicle

Once you have received grant money for a mobile specialty vehicle, the hardest work is behind you. Now it is time to follow the strategy you outlined for using that money. This will usually involve the following steps.

1. Find a Custom Builder

With your grant money secured, it is time to find a custom builder who can help you design your mobile specialty vehicle. Look for a business that has experience in custom mobile medical units.

Ideally, your custom builder should have both designers and engineers on staff who can help you create the ideal layout and secure the specialty equipment you will need to operate.

2. Design the Mobile Medical Unit

With the help of your custom builder, it is time to design the layout of your mobile specialty vehicle. You’ll need to determine the size of the build, the workflow, and the built-in equipment and technology.

Make sure that during the design process, you discuss your budgetary needs with your custom builder. This can help ensure that you use your grant the way you intend. For example, if you planned to use part of your grant money for the build and part of it for training new personnel, you will want to carefully track the budget throughout the process.

3. Staff the Unit and Roll Out!

Finally, after your mobile specialty vehicle has been built, it is time to staff the unit and get to work. In many cases, you will want to use some of your grant money to fund the operation of your vehicle. You might even consider applying for additional funding as you go through the early stages of launching the clinic.

Talk to Summit Bodyworks About a Custom Mobile Specialty Vehicle

If you are looking to use grant money for a mobile specialty vehicle, our team at Summit Bodyworks can help. We will be happy to discuss the budget you will need for a custom design and, once you have secured your funding, we’ll be glad to get to work designing the perfect mobile clinic for your needs. Contact our team today to learn more about the process of designing and building a mobile specialty vehicle.

Established in Colorado, Summit Bodyworks is on the forefront of innovation and customer service for vehicle manufacturing and upfitting. Whether you’re looking for all-electric, hybrid, or gas-powered options, Summit Bodyworks is your one-stop-shop for design, manufacturing, and upfitting of trucks, vans, specialty vehicles, and fleets.