Betty's Co. mobile clinic drives reproductive health forward
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Betty's Co. partners with college campuses, apartment complexes and other businesses to park the mobile clinic for about three days. Photo: Courtesy of Betty's Co.
Betty's Co., a reproductive health care service, is changing the way people in San Antonio get gynecological care through a mobile clinic that travels throughout the city.
Why it matters: The San Antonio company focuses on bridging reproductive health gaps, especially for college-aged individuals. It offers discreet wellness services that can be paid for out of pocket, allowing young people to take care of their health issues without involving family insurance.
Reality check: Founder Jennifer Newell says there's a gap in care between pediatric visits and gynecological visits, typically between the ages of 18 and 21, or even longer.
- 64% of Hispanic women did not receive a timely cervical cancer screening, with the most commonly reported reason being lack of awareness, according to a study published in 2022 by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
- Transgender individuals weren't identified in the study, which used data from the National Health Information Survey that includes only male and female categories.
Of note: Betty's Co. provides care for any person with any aspect of a female reproductive system, inclusive of all gender identities and nonbinary individuals, Newell says.
What she did: Newell launched the clinic in March 2022. Patients can book appointments for Pap tests, annual exams, STI tests, birth control consultations and IUD insertion and removal, among other services.
- The clinic accepts most major insurance and student health coverage plans and offers the option to pay out of pocket. The cost of visits ranges from $29 to $99.
How it works: The mobile clinic partners with college campuses, apartment complexes and businesses to park the clinic for about three days. Betty's Co. sees patients between the ages of 13 and 45.
- A board-certified OB-GYN oversees a nurse practitioner and a nurse coordinator, the team that handles the visits.
- Each visit lasts about 40 minutes. The clinic is able to see about 24 patients per day.
- If further care is needed, patients are referred to an OB-GYN.
By the numbers: There have been more than 1,400 Betty's Co. visits to date.
What they're saying: Trinity University has partnered with Betty's Co. since December. The clinic parks on campus once a month for about three days. The convenience has been a relief for students, director of health services Marcy Youngdahl tells Axios.
- "We're doing everything we can to make sure that they're in control of their reproductive health," she says.
The bottom line: Newell says Betty's Co. takes the focus off of pregnancy in reproductive health care, which she says was the standard before that emphasis led to gaps in education.
- "There are a host of underlying conditions that start to present symptoms in those late teen years, and if that teen is not sexually active then, and they think they don't need to go, then they're going to be suffering from those symptoms for a long time."