The poor and the working who have no insurance coverage now have some hope for medical attention.

It’s Family Doc in the Bus, and it was dedicated last week.The first clinic day will be Sept. 12.

Through the vision of UAB Selma Family Medicine’s Dr. Monica Newton, plans for this bus started three years ago. Newton started mounting forces for the effort through the Dallas County Health Department, the Dallas County Emergency Management Agency and the United Way.

Seed money came from the Alabama Department of Public Health. With help from the Department of Emergency Preparedness, Life Point Foundation, the Weaver Parrish Trust Fund and Raceway, the bus became a reality.

On Friday, Newton and others gathered to dedicate the bus clinic she hopes will inspire those who receive free medical care through the program to give back to the community “so that the mobile medical unit will be a sustainable resource for the citizens of Dallas County.”

The bus is only open to people of Selma and Dallas County with no insurance. Pre-registration began Aug. 4 at the United Way office. People may still pre-register before clinic on clinic days.

Staffed by volunteers from the community and faculty from UAB Selma Family Medicine, the bus will have two clinics a month.

The clinics will run from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Christian Alliance Food Pantry on the second Friday and the Salvation Army on the fourth Friday.

Services provided on the bus include a preventative health evaluation, annual female exams, diabetes testing and management, EKG, urinalysis, pulmonary function tests, kidney function tests, testing for strep throat, CBC-blood count, pregnancy testing, HIV testing, thyroid testing and lipid profile.