Interstate Health Systems has announced its plan to create a network of healthcare clinics aimed at serving truckers, other travelers, and people living in rural areas, and trucking industry executives are backing them up.
The organization’s plan is to establish a network of primary care, urgent care, and telemedicine services along the nation’s interstate highway system. Backed by the trucking industry, the medical services company is one step closer to breaking what it calls the long-standing barriers faced by the nation’s 3.5 million professional truck drivers by introducing a new model that would also serve the healthcare needs of rural Americans and interstate travelers.
With initial funding in place, IHS plans to open 60 clinics over the next two years, while also delivering a technology platform that integrates with trucking company platforms to include services such as real-time telemedicine and a unified prescription network.
Additionally, the organization has plans in place to build more than 300 urgent care clinics over the next six years located near truck stops and travel centers to serve professional drivers, the traveling public, and underserved communities living nearby. This plan will enable more immediate healthcare access to 46 million Americans currently living in medically underserved areas as well as 18 million veterans who can now select their provider of choice through the Veterans Community Care program.
“The IHS model is a major leap forward in solving a variety of healthcare challenges that our professional drivers face daily,” said Rob Estes, CEO of Estes Express Lines. “IHS is supported and advised by a dynamic group of trucking, healthcare and technology leaders with the expertise needed to fundamentally redefine the future of healthcare in rural America.”
Led by Jeff Seraphine, a healthcare industry veteran, the company has received financial backing from various private investors, many of whom are veteran transportation and technology industry executives, including:
- Rob Estes, CEO, Estes Express Lines
• Brad Pinchuk, CEO, Hirschbach Truck Line
• Bob Peterson, Chairman/CEO, Melton Truck Lines
• Gary Enzor, Former Chairman/CEO, Quality Distribution
• Jett McCandless, CEO/Founder, project44Ron Rother, Former CEO/Chairman of Strive Consulting
• Ron Rother, Former CEO/Chairman of Strive Consulting
• John Larkin, Partner at Clarendon, ex-Stifel
• Chad Eichelberger, President, Reliance Partners, ex-Coyote Logistics
• Tommy Barnes, CRO, MyCarrier, ex- project44 & Coyote Logistics
ֽ• Bruce Campbell, Former CEO/Chairman, Forward Air
• Perry Mandera, CEO/Founder, Custom Companies
• Fulton Wold, Former CEO/Founder, Bold Planning Technologies
