Choosing who builds your mobile clinic decides more than the price. It decides how the unit holds up after years of daily use, how long you wait for it, who fixes it when something breaks three states away, and whether your team can actually run the program you designed. This guide walks through what to compare, and the questions to ask every mobile clinic manufacturer or dealer before you sign, including us.
1. Start with Your Program, Not the Vehicle
Before you talk to any builder, write down what the clinic has to do: the services you will offer, how many patients you expect a day, how many staff will be on board, where you will park, and how far you will travel. A good manufacturer will ask these questions first. One that jumps straight to a floor plan from a catalog is selling you a vehicle, not a program.
- Services: primary care, dental, behavioral health, medication-assisted treatment, screenings, lab work or a mix.
- Rooms: how many exam rooms, operatories or counseling spaces, and how private each has to be.
- Access: whether you need a wheelchair lift, a second entrance or a restroom.
- Sites: the streets, parking lots and terrain you will use, and whether shore power is available there.
2. Look Hard at How the Body Is Built
A mobile clinic opens and closes its doors, runs a generator and carries equipment every working day for a decade or more. The structure underneath the finishes matters most.
Steel Cage or Converted RV?
Ask whether the body is a welded steel cage built for commercial service or a converted recreational vehicle. TESCO units are purpose-built with steel-cage construction, never retrofitted RVs. Ask every builder the same question, and ask to see the frame on a unit in production.
Materials That Last
Compare the exterior (fiberglass bodies don’t rust), the subfloor (composite floors resist rot), the insulation and the interior surfaces. Medical-grade, wipeable walls, counters and flooring make infection control easier for the life of the unit.
3. Match the Chassis to Your Drivers and Your Routes
The chassis sets the length, the weight and who can drive the clinic. A commercial driver’s license is generally required above 26,000 lbs gross vehicle weight rating, so ask for the GVWR of every model you are considering. TESCO’s units are engineered to stay under CDL weight thresholds, so your staff can drive them.
- Vans such as the Ford Transit fit tight urban sites and park in a normal space.
- Cutaway chassis such as the Ford E-450 and F-550 carry 23 ft to 37 ft bodies with one to three rooms.
- Larger diesel chassis carry 40 ft clinics with three rooms, lab space and dual entries.
4. Ask How the Clinic Is Powered and Kept Comfortable
Most of a mobile clinic’s problems in the field come from power and climate. Ask about the generator, shore power connections, inverter and battery systems (for long days parked without power, a system such as a Victron inverter and battery bank), and the capacity of the air conditioning and heat for the climate you work in. Ask how tanks and plumbing are protected in winter if you operate in cold states.
5. Plan for Accessibility From the Start
If you will see patients who use wheelchairs, the lift, door widths and aisle space have to be designed in, not added later. Ask for the lift’s rated capacity (our ADA models use a certified 800 lb Braun lift), where it sits, and whether patients can reach the exam room without passing through other rooms.
6. Compare Lead Times, and Ask About Units in Stock
Lead times vary widely between builders and change with the market. Ask for a delivery date in writing and what it depends on. Most TESCO builds deliver in about 90 days, and in-stock units on our immediate delivery list and used units can go out sooner, which matters when grant funding has a spending deadline.
7. Find Out Who Services the Clinic After Delivery
The manufacturer’s job doesn’t end at hand-over. Ask:
- Where the unit can be serviced near you, and who handles the chassis, generator, lift and HVAC warranties.
- Whether your staff get training on the vehicle’s systems, and whether there are videos to refer back to. Our help center has walkthroughs for lifts, generators, shore power and winterizing.
- How parts are ordered and how quickly they ship.
TESCO’s nationwide service network lists approved vendors across the country.
8. Check How You Can Buy
How you buy can save months. Public agencies and many nonprofits can buy through cooperative purchasing contracts instead of running their own RFP; TESCO holds an NPPGov contract and a GSA contract (see cooperative purchasing). Ask about leasing, financing and trade-ins too, and whether the builder can help you line up grant funding. Our funding guide and grant funding pages are a place to start.
9. Ask for Proof
Any builder can show renderings. Ask to see finished units and talk to the people who run them:
- Customer references from programs like yours, ideally in your state.
- Photos, walkthrough videos and 360° tours of delivered units. See our recently built units, virtual tours and map of clinics deployed.
- Whether the builder is active in the field, for example as a member of the Mobile Healthcare Association.
Questions to Ask Every Mobile Clinic Manufacturer
- Who builds the body, and can we see one in production?
- What is the GVWR, and will our staff need a CDL?
- What is the delivery date in writing, and do you have similar units in stock?
- What power system, generator and HVAC capacity does this layout need for our climate?
- What warranties come with the body, chassis, generator and lift, and who honors them near us?
- What training do our staff get at delivery?
- Can we buy through a cooperative contract, lease or trade in an existing unit?
- Who are three customers we can call?
Ready to compare? Browse new and used mobile clinics for sale, pick a few to compare side by side, or schedule a free consultation and put these questions to us.
