Minneapolis' mobile medical unit is on the move

For the past year, a mobile medical unit has been delivering healthcare and substance use treatment directly to Minneapolis residents in underserved communities, reaching people who often face some of the greatest barriers to care.

The Minneapolis Mobile Medical Unit, funded by over $1 million in opioid settlement dollars, operates from a specially equipped RV that contains two exam rooms and is staffed by three nurses.

Four days a week, the medical team provides basic health screenings and wound care to patients without dependable access to traditional healthcare and also connects them with treatment and recovery resources.

“We can check cholesterol, blood pressure, and do diabetes screenings, and give people a better idea about their health,” said Jasmine Bloomdahl, a registered nurse with the Minneapolis Health Department who staffs the MMU. “But the focus of the project is opioid use and trying to help folks that are interested in treatment or interested in reducing use get access to the resources that they need to do so.”

The MMU was established in response to the opioid crisis and the public health initiative prioritizes outreach to communities with high levels of drug use, including individuals experiencing homelessness and those who are uninsured or underinsured.

Bloomdahl said the team consistently returns to set locations around the city so that people know where to find them for follow-up services, in case they lack access to a phone, computer, or reliable internet.

For the nurses, patient encounters can be brief, sometimes lasting just 15 minutes, yet the health needs they encounter can be complex.

Many patients arrive with serious health issues, Bloomdahl said. Some have also experienced discrimination in traditional healthcare settings, including being labeled “drug seekers,” which can make them reluctant to seek care.

The MMU offers a less intimidating environment, she added, where individuals can receive care without some of the barriers and stigma they may encounter elsewhere. Even during short visits, nurses work to connect patients with services and address health problems that unstable housing and other hardships can exacerbate.

In its first year of operation, MMU staff engaged with over 4,000 community members and made more than 600 referrals for services, including primary care, mental health and substance use treatment, housing and social services, and medications for opioid use disorder.

They also distributed 1,484 doses of naloxone, an overdose-reversal medication commonly known by the brand name Narcan, along with 2,589 hygiene supplies.

“Health care works best when it is accessible, trusted and responsive to the realities of people’s lives,” Heidi Ritchie, Minneapolis Interim Commissioner of Health, said in a statement.

The work of the MMU takes place as Minnesota continues to actively address the opioid epidemic. The state recorded a 26 percent decrease in opioid-related deaths from 2023 to 2024. But provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the number of deaths from opioids remained steady in Minnesota in 2025, even as they continued to decline nationally.

The American Medical Association’s 2025 report on the nation’s overdose epidemic noted that while opioid-related overdose deaths declined nationally in 2024, the increasing prevalence of fentanyl mixed with other substances and the unpredictability of the illicit drug supply continue to pose significant risks.

In Minneapolis, the city’s opioid response team and health department are working to expand access to evidence-based treatment and medications for opioid use disorder while strengthening connections among street outreach teams, community clinics, and other healthcare partners that serve patients regardless of their ability to pay.

One focus is on increasing accessibility to medications for opioid use disorder, including injectable buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder and chronic pain by reducing cravings, withdrawal symptoms, and the effects of other opioids, such as fentanyl.

Bloomdahl said that for some patients, injectable buprenorphine can be a critical tool to aid recovery. “Our project is really focused on building up a low-barrier landscape across the city, so that folks can access injectable buprenorphine,” she said.

Medication can ease treatment for some individuals by alleviating the physical discomfort associated with withdrawal and helping to prevent relapse, according to Bloomdahl. She said this is especially beneficial for those returning to environments where opioids are prevalent and hard to avoid.

But access to the medication remains a challenge. Bloomdahl said injectable buprenorphine is expensive, and some pharmacies and clinics do not carry it because of the price and the requirements associated with administering it.

For Bloomdahl, the impact of the MMU is often measured in smaller moments, such as when a patient returns and shares that a referral led to treatment, housing, or another form of support.

“We do have people come back and swing by the unit and say, ‘Hey, that thing you set me up with worked out great, and now I'm on a path, and I'm going here, and I'm excited about it,’” Bloomdahl said. “And so those moments are really, really great.”

Occasionally, she said, the good moments arise from simply assisting a patient navigate a complicated healthcare system.

“Sometimes we are able to do enough care coordination that we check all the boxes of the patient's goals, and they seem to leave feeling a lot better,” Bloomdahl said.

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