Polk County and Broadlawns launch Iowa’s first mobile memory and wellness clinic

Polk County leaders and Broadlawns Medical Center on Wednesday unveiled what officials described as Iowa’s first mobile memory and wellness clinic, a van that will take cognitive screening, education and certain blood tests into neighborhoods, churches and libraries to reach residents who lack easy access to clinic-based care.

"We are bringing brain health directly to Polk County communities," said Dr. Yogi Shah, medical director of the Broadlawns Memory Clinic. "We now know that changes in the brain start 20 years before symptoms appear."

Dr. Shah said the mobile unit is intended to shift care away from late-stage diagnosis and toward earlier detection and risk reduction through outreach, cognitive screening and blood tests that, according to his remarks at the launch, can detect Alzheimer’s-related proteins. He described the initiative as part of a broader cultural shift to normalize routine brain-health checks similar to heart-health screenings.

Jonathan Brence Muhl, foundation director for Broadlawns Medical Center, opened the event and introduced Dr. Shah and Polk County leaders. He invited attendees to tour the van and highlighted Broadlawns’ role in the partnership.

Polk County Board of Supervisors Chair Matt McCoy said the program is intended to reduce barriers to care and reiterated that the van will be used for both memory-related testing and, when not servicing memory needs, as a mobile immunization and outreach clinic. "This van is about access, dignity, and prevention," McCoy said, thanking financial partners, health professionals and community organizers involved in the effort.

Officials said trained professionals will travel to churches, the Polk County Center, libraries, rural locations and neighborhoods where residents may be disconnected from traditional health services. Specific deployment dates, the van’s operating schedule, and detailed funding sources were not specified at the event.

The launch concluded with an invitation for attendees to tour the mobile unit. No formal votes or county actions were announced at the event; officials described it as a partnership-driven public-health outreach program and did not present a timetable for wider rollout.