More help is coming to Suffolk for uninsured residents looking for treatment of routine illnesses, trying to manage chronic diseases or seeking a sports physical for their high-school athlete.

The Bon Secours Care-A-Van, a doctor-on-wheels that serves uninsured patients, will begin making visits to downtown Suffolk on May 11. After that, it will visit two days a week.

The Obici Healthcare Foundation provided the grant for the Care-A-Van to extend visits to Suffolk. Currently, it holds clinics only in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News.

The Care-A-Van is a large bus that includes a small waiting area, working space for the staff, a laboratory and an exam room.

“It’s a pretty highly functional little unit,” said Dr. Amy Price, medical director for the Care-A-Van. “I think (patients) are pretty surprised at what we can do.”

The Care-A-Van partners with other organizations such as churches that have enough space for patients to wait for their appointment comfortably. The bus then visits at its appointed times, sets up in the parking lot and sees patients on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Care-A-Van is essentially a free clinic on wheels, Price said. It takes care of all aspects of a person’s care that the staff can do. When a patient needs more specialized services, they are referred elsewhere.

Suffolk already has a free clinic — the Western Tidewater Free Clinic on Meade Parkway — but Price noted the clinic has a lengthy waiting list because the need is so great.

“Western Tidewater is doing as much as they can,” she said.

Price said the Care-A-Van frequently sees patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes. However, because uninsured people typically do not receive routine care, they don’t know they have diabetes until it’s too late.

“Either we’re telling them they’ve got diabetes, or they just got told in an (emergency room),” Price said.

Those patients need frequent visits that may not be possible in another setting, Price said. By visiting each location at least once a week — the Care-A-Van will visit Suffolk twice a week, albeit in two different locations — patients who need frequent check-ups and education to manage their condition can visit more often.

“I can feel a lot better about completing the circle with them,” Price said.

Unlike many free clinics, the Care-A-Van does not require proof of income and other paperwork to establish eligibility to visit. It also does not require appointments, which means those who arrive later to register often have to wait until late in the afternoon to be seen. Those two things work in concert, Price said.

“There’s not a lot of people that are going to try to game the system by sitting in a waiting room all day,” she said.

Jimmy Cooper, a nurse practitioner who sees patients on the Care-A-Van, said the services affect people’s lives.

“I think we see people at the most vulnerable part of their lives,” he said.

The Care-A-Van is funded through Bon Secours as well as through grants and community donations. It can also provide help with getting low-cost prescriptions.

The Care-A-Van will make an initial visit to Suffolk Presbyterian Church, 410 N. Broad St., on May 11. Beginning May 25, visits will be every Friday. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. and continues until the clinic is full.

A separate location will host Tuesday visits, but that location has yet to be determined.

For more information, call 889-2273.