ST INS CARES-Premier Mobile Health Services-Primary Care On Wheels

A mobile clinic can feel like a small idea until you meet the people it’s built for. Gail Langner sits down with Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh, founder and CEO of Premier Mobile Health Services, to unpack the moment that made her stop accepting “that’s just how it is” in healthcare. After treating a 24-year-old in hypertensive urgency with kidney failure, Dr. Singh realized the real emergency was years without a simple physical, a blood pressure check, or any preventive screening. 

We walk through how Premier Mobile delivers primary care on wheels across Southwest Florida, focusing on uninsured and underinsured neighbors who get blocked by cost, copays, deductibles, or distance. Dr. Singh explains what the mobile health clinic can do day to day, from blood pressure and diabetes checks to common illness visits and prevention-focused screenings, plus how referrals help patients connect to the next level of care. We also talk about where the clinic goes, including Fort Myers, Collier County, Immokalee, Bonita Springs, Lehigh, and Fort Myers Beach, where Hurricane Ian left major gaps in healthcare access. 

Building a nonprofit is not just heart, it’s grind. Dr. Singh shares the early funding challenges, the first organizations that said yes, and why volunteers and community partners make the mission sustainable. You’ll also hear how community events like back-to-school drives and Breakfast with Santa create an on-ramp for health education, vision and hearing checks, and family-friendly prevention. If you care about mobile healthcare, preventive care, and real solutions for health equity, subscribe, share this episode with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find these stories.

Premier Mobile Health Services
Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh
10676 Colonial Blvd Suite #20, Fort Myers, FL 33913
Fort Myers, FL · Lehigh Acres, FL · Estero, FL · Cape Coral, FL · Bonita Springs, FL
(239) 222-1829
info@premiermobilehealth.org
premiermobilehealth.org

State Insurance USA
4450 Camino Real Way
Ft Myers, FL 33966
239-567-9992
office@StateInsuranceUSA.com
stateinsuranceusa.com
https://www.facebook.com/Stateinsuranceusa
#StateInsuranceUSA
#SupportLocal
#WeLoveOurClients
@Stateinsuranceusa

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Transcript

Welcome And Mission Of The Show

Intro/Close 0:00

Welcome to State Insurance USA Cares Podcast, where we celebrate the heart of our communities. Each episode, we highlight local charities and nonprofits who are bringing hope, help, and healing to those who need it most. Get ready to be inspired by the amazing stories of people making a difference. Because together, we care.

The Patient Story That Changed Everything

Gail Langner 0:19

Well, welcome to State Insurance Cares. We're the charitable giving arm of State Insurance USA. I'm Gail Langner. And you know, everybody deserves access to quality health care. We know that. And today we're actually talking with an organization that's bringing medical care directly to those who need it most. And so joining me today is Dr. Nadine Singh. She is the founder and CEO of Premier Mobile Health Services. And Dr. Singh, thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate it.

Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh 0:50

Oh, Gail, it's my absolute pleasure.

Gail Langner 0:54

Well, it is wonderful. Wonderful to see you again, truly. Um, I know that Blake and I really had the opportunity to come and tour one of your units. And um, it's obvious really how passionate you are about what you do. And how did how did you come to create this?

Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh 1:15

Oh, I'm gonna take a long story and make it a very short story. Okay. Because as I wrote about the mobile clinic doing my master's uh back at South University uh as an iSchooldropper, the girl who started at GED. Uh I had to imagine it, create it to make it work on paper. And so I thought about a mobile clinic just going out in the community and and doing um the basic medical screening, like high blood pressure and diabetes monitoring and all that wonderful stuff. And I did it for a good grade. But however, the more I wrote it, the more it felt like a reality. And I did get the grade. It was my big master's dissertation, and I put it away and I filed it in my archive. Let's fast forward to 2018 as this was 2015 when I wrote that. Um, I got called. I was working in the ER and I got called to admit a 24-year-old, young African-American. And I'm like, okay, the doctor on the line says, Oh, Deanny, he had hypertensive urgency and his kidneys failed. His kidneys, he's in renal failure, he will need dialysis. And I'm like, What? 24-year-old. So I open up the screen and I looked at his his labs, and he looked like a 110-year-old coming off a cruise ship from a really good time. I saw diet, and this it just didn't sit well with me. When I looked at his age, I looked at his numbers, I looked at his weight, I looked at everything. Nothing about him squeal. This is this guy would have lost his kidney at the age of 24 and needing dialysis. I rushed down to his bedside and he didn't understand the severity of what he was about to experience and that his life has just changed. And when I asked him, when was the last time that he had a physical exam or screening by a medical profession? He said when he was in high school doing sports physical. My heart sunk. I remember the mobile clinic. I walk out of his room, just stereo-eyed, heartbroken, and said, This should never happen to another kid. And that's when I walked to the cubby with my physician colleague and says, I'm gonna do that mobile clinic. And he said, Deanny, what are you talking about now? And I'm saying, I'm gonna do a mobile clinic and go out in the community and help these people who are uninsured. And Joseph was not insured. I had to call the nephrologist, Dr. Mark Russo, who was so delighted to come take care of this young man. And so I went on eBay and found a mobile clinic in Sacramento, California, and we bought it and brought it to um Fort Myers, and Premier Mobile was birthed eight years ago.

Who Premier Mobile Serves And Where

Gail Langner 4:15

Well, I um when we took the tour, I can tell you that was we Blake and I enjoyed ourselves so much that day. And thank you for taking time out of your busy day to to actually show it, show that to us. For those that are listening today, tell me really, uh, Premier Mobile Health, what kind of people do you serve? Where does your unit go in this in this area in Southwest Florida?

Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh 4:40

So Premier Mobile is a healthcare institution that serves all people of all race, all ethnicity, all background. But we do with our mobile clinic is a focus on the marginalized individuals, those who are uninsured, those who are insured but can't afford their co they copy, those who do not meet their deductibles, so they can't get a doctor visit. And so we either have free or a sliding scale fee for those individuals. We go to um Collier County, we go down to Imakali, we go to Bonita Springs at the Cafe of Life, we go to Pine Manor, we go to San Costa Estate, we go to North Fort Myers, we go, we go as far out as the Lehigh, sometime out into Cloiston. So we're really that clinic that goes to the neighborhood where usually there's no access. We go down to Fort Myers Beach, you know, Hurricane Ian has devastated our Fort Myers Beach area. And so there's no healthcare infrastructure out there. And so that would there's where we have been going as well. And so Premier is that gap for the healthcare system to make that makes healthcare happens for those who don't have access.

Gail Langner 5:55

What would be a typical test that you would do or or a checkup that you would do for one of your patients, Deanny?

Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh 6:04

Oh, just think about going to your primary care doctor, primary care is appointment. We're like a primary care on wheel. So for example, if you had a cough, a cold, um, COVID, whatever it is, and you come on the clinic, you call your primary doctor for that test, you could call Premier Mobile. Whether it's a blood pressure check, we whether it's your thyroid uh check, whether it's your diabetes check, or even a screening, right? Um prevention is our key, the key focus of our clinic. If we uh I don't say prevention keeps the doctor away, right? We grow up on those words, and so we screen to tell you what you have, where you are, and so your medical exams is your way to your health. So at Premier Mobile, we pretty much do all screenings. We don't we'll and if we don't do the screening, we'll provide a referral, whether it's the Lee Health, Radiology Regional, or any of all the facilities.

Gail Langner 7:14

Okay, got it. Well, that's amazing. It truly is. I the the I can't believe all the different places you go. I unbelievable.

Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh 7:24

Yes, we have grown since the last time you took that tour.

Gail Langner 7:28

I'm sure, I'm sure you have.

Funding Hurdles And Building A Nonprofit

Gail Langner 7:30

Do you know? Um, I know one thing, Deanny, is it I know it's not easy to start a nonprofit. I can't even imagine where you began, but what kind of you know, maybe challenges did you come up against when when you were trying to get started?

Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh 7:45

Was it mostly money or so it's so funny? I like to talk about a nonprofit because I remember when I went to I didn't understand we I wrote about it, it sounded good, but then practicality of reality sets in, right? And so we started as a for-profit, and then I went to the mobile clinic association up in Cleveland, Ohio. When I went there, they had was a big room with 125 other mobile clinic recipients, and they were like, uh anyone in here that bought their mobile clinic, stand up, raise your hand. And I sat down, no one stood up. And I said, anyone affiliated with a church, you know, the few people, a school, several people, a hospital, more than half the room. Then they asked the question again. Anyone else has purchased a mobile clinic on their own? And uh they're like, Deanny, stand up. I was the only one. You were uh that so they give a round of applause, but at that time I didn't realize they were saying, You poor soul. And so after the comments, they came and talked to me and said, You have to dissolve your for-profit. I'm like, What? You gotta make it a non-profit. I'm like, what's a non-profit? You know, I just took my entire life saving, close all my bank accounts to purchase this unit from Sacramento. Right. And they said, a nonprofit doesn't mean you don't make profit, but it means you get all the people to help you. And so that same day I dissolved the for-profit, the for-profit concept, make it into a not-for-profit, and then I started knocking on doors. My God, there was no door opening. I knocked and I knocked and I knocked. They said it would make it easier. Oh no, it wasn't. I had people telling me that it would never work. Uh, it's so noble what you're trying to do, but it will never work in least outwest Florida. And uh, show me something that I can't do, and I'll show you something that will work and something that I will do. And the University of Miami was the first one to say yes. And so when they said yes, it's like all the other doors open financially. Lee Health came on board, United Way came on board. It is still challenging, very, very difficult raising funds for health care. You know, a lot of people are also having their own challenges. And so when you try to raise money to take care of other, it could be a it not could be, it is a very challenging and difficult process. So always financial is our burden, and we're always looking for um financial help, volunteers, whether you're MD, nurse practitioner, nurses, whatever way you could help in volunteering to help us make our community way much better than it is today.

Volunteer Roles And Community Events

Gail Langner 10:28

I was gonna ask you about volunteers. Anything that not in the medical profession, somebody let's say me, I mean, is there anything that I could do to help volunteer, or is there, is it you need to have medical background?

Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh 10:41

I take all people from all walks of life because guess what? There's so many different activities that we do at Premier. We have our back to school event where we have people come in from the community like you, yourself, Gail, that comes in and help us pack um the knapsacks for the kids to return back to school, the community donate book bags, books, pencils, all kinds of necessities for the kiddos to return to school. We have our big backpack drive. This year we're doing toiletries, toothpaste, um, deodorant socks, underwear, uh, all of those beautiful items to give back to the kiddos and these less fortunate communities to go back to school. And so when we collect the supplies, we have individuals like yourself come in and help us put an assortment of these things out so then we can give back to the kiddos for them to go back to school.

Gail Langner 11:34

That's great. Like even if I could get a few people from the agency, you know, from state insurance to maybe come and do that. Um, maybe when we're when we're off, um Deanny, let's talk about that about when that's going to be and when you'll need that, okay? Um so what do you think about it?

Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh 11:52

We also do breakfast with Santa. With breakfast with Santa, we do a lot, lots of toys, lots of toys giveaway. And while it's a the spurter festivity and giving back, it also remember we talk about Joseph. We screen these children and we teach them the importance of them, their health and understanding their blood pressure, and the reason why we check their blood pressure, and it is a the it's a mirror to their overall health, and so we use the opportunity to teach them. We have uh the line side care that comes out to do the eye exam, we have the audiology people that comes out and do the earring screening. We wish we had a dental uh personnel that would come out with us, but in the meantime, these are some of the the screenings that we provide for these kiddos returning back to school, and so while it's excitement around the giveaway, it also health is the number one focus.

Pride In The Team And Partnerships

Gail Langner 12:46

A good priority. That's wonderful. What do you think you're the most proud about, Deanny? What do you think you're the most proud of?

Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh 12:54

The team that I've built. My team, and I'm I'm most proud of my my team because a lot of people say, Oh, when you talk about premiere, people say, Oh, Deanny? No, it's not Deanny. Deanny has built an amazing team of volunteers, staff, my uh, my project managers, my operation managers, my COO, my medical assistant, my drivers, my nurse practitioners, all those who have come and volunteered, the FGCU uh brigade team, the Nova Southeastern PA and nursing team, so many different universities, so many of the community that has donated and give back to Premier. So, what I'm most proud about about is the amazing amount of people who have joined forces with Premier to make this impact possible.

Gail Langner 13:49

I love to hear that. Do you know that's what Blake says? When you ask Blake what he's the most proud of, that's what he says. Really? Yes, you have kindred spirit, that's for sure. Well,

How To Donate And Get In Touch

Gail Langner 14:01

before we go, Deanny, um, thank you obviously for for being taking time out of your day-to-day to be on the podcast today. But um, how can people reach you? What's the best way to get in touch with you if they want to donate or volunteer or whatever? What's the best way to reach you?

Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh 14:16

You could always go on our website to www.premere mobilehealth.org. That's premier know e at the end, premier mobilehealth.org or 239-288-7949. We're located at 10676 Colonial Boulevard, suite 20, Fort Myers 33913. And you could always send a quick email to info at premieremobilehealth.org. And there's a donation button on our website. You could just go there and donate to help us keep our wheels turning and our doors open.

Gail Langner 14:52

I love that. Thank you. Thank you, my friend, for being on. And uh, we'll see you soon. I know we're gonna be doing a check presentation with the big check, so we can get that uh on social media.

Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh 15:05

So and I just want to tell you thank you. And uh, you have been supporting me from day one when Tamika introduced us, and I am I am so grateful. I am so grateful. That's the reason why I also have my insurance through you. Oh, do you?

Gail Langner 15:21

Thank you. Oh my gosh, that's wonderful. I didn't know that. That's wonderful. So, yeah, Tamika Peters. We um I met her at American Business Women's Association, and she said, You have got to meet Dr. Singh. So, um, and I think it was probably within the week we did. So, great. Well, thank you. Thanks for being on, and um, we'll see you soon. Appreciate you, Gail. You too.

Closing Thanks And Community Support

Intro/Close 15:48

Thanks for joining us on State Insurance USA Cares. We hope today's story uplifted and inspired you. If you'd like to support or learn more about the incredible work happening in your community, visit StateInsuranceUSA.com or call two three nine five six seven nine nine nine two. You can also visit CaboWaboJim.com. Until next time, be sure to let your sun shine and keep sharing good and positive vibes wherever the waves take you.