09.14.2009 :: Mobile Unit Schedule Announced for Fall 2009
Prior Lake, Minnesota
This fall the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Mobile Unit will be kept busy providing services to Minnesota residents. In addition to the already announced collaboration with Scott County, the Mobile Unit will travel to northern Minnesota tribal communities on several occasions and provide services in the Twin Cities as well. The SMSC announces the upcoming fall schedule for its Mobile Unit, a combined project of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community's Health Department and Mdewakanton Emergency Services.
The SMSC Mobile Unit is both a mobile medical clinic which provides health screening, mammograms, prevention and education, and treatment services as well as a mobile incident command center which can be used to handle tactical emergency situations like search and rescue.
On Saturday, September 26, 2009, the Mobile Unit will travel to a special event held by the American Diabetes Association at General Mills World Headquarters in Golden Valley, Minnesota. The Mobile Unit will serve as on site medical support, command central, and the visual media point for the ADA’s 2009 Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes. The Walk to Fight Diabetes is an annual event to raise funds for research to find a cure for diabetes and for programs to improve the lives of people with diabetes.
"We’re happy to be able to provide our Mobile Unit to assist the American Diabetes Association with their event. Diabetes is reaching near epidemic proportions, particularly among American Indian people, so it is important to support efforts for research to help fight this often debilitating disease,” said SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks.
Since going into service in the fall of 2007, more than 800 patients have received mammograms aboard the Mobile Unit at locations across the state. In addition, health screenings, dental services, and a diabetes management clinic have been held. The Mobile Unit also provides services to SMSC Community members, Native Americans who live in Scott County, and employees during monthly health screening events.
Another event the Mobile Unit will support is the Twin Cities Marathon on October 4, 2009. The Mobile Unit will be parked in front of the State Capitol and from the Unit SMSC Emergency Medical Services staff will provide Command Communications. During the marathon 11,000 runners from across the nation and 300,000 spectators will gather at the event which is a Boston Marathon qualifier and a US Olympic Team Trials - Marathon qualifier for both men and women.
The Mobile Unit will also be at the Mahkato 37th Annual Traditional Pow Wow in Mankato, Minnesota, September 19-20, 2009, where it will provide first aid and medical response as needed.
Below is the Fall 2009 Mobile Unit Schedule:
Lower Sioux Indian Community September 11 Mammography (Morton)Leech Lake Band of Chippewa September 15-17 Dental Clinic (Cass Lake)
Mahkato Traditional Pow Wow September 19-20 First Aid, Medical Response (Mankato)
Scott County September 24 Public Health Clinic
Bois Forte Band of Chippewa September 28-29 Mammography (Nett Lake)
Bois Forte Band of Chippewa September 29 Mammography (Tower)
Twin Cities Marathon October 4 Command Communications
Upper Sioux Community October 6 Mammography (Granite Falls)
Scott County October 8 Public Health Clinic
Grand Portage Band of Chippewa October 15-16 Dental Clinic (Grand Portage)
Indian Health Board October 22 Dental Clinic (Minneapolis)
Native American Community Clinic October 27 Mammography (Minneapolis)
Scott County October 29 Public Health Clinic
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe November 2-4 Mammography (Onamia)
Scott County November 5 Public Health Clinic
Scott County November 19 Public Health Clinic
Scott County December 3 Public Health Clinic
Scott County December 17 Public Health Clinic
For more information about the SMSC Mobile Unit, call SMSC Mobile Unit Coordinator Christine Michael at 952-233-2964.
About the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
The SMSC utilizes its financial resources from gaming and non-gaming enterprises to pay for all of the internal infrastructure of the Tribe, including but not limited to roads, water and sewer systems, emergency services, and essential services to its Tribal members in education, health, and welfare. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has a charitable giving program which comes from a cultural and social tradition to assist those in need. Over the past 12 years the SMSC has donated more than $162 million to charitable organizations and Indian Tribes, including more than $20.9 million in fiscal year 2009. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, a federally recognized Indian Tribe in Minnesota, is the owner and operator of Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Little Six Casino, Playworks, Dakotah! Sport and Fitness, The Meadows at Mystic Lake, and other enterprises on a reservation south of the Twin Cities.
