The clinic, which held a ribbon-cutting Tuesday morning at Sage Memorial Hospital, will travel across the sprawling reservation to meet patients where they live. It marks the first time the March of Dimes has partnered with a tribal nation to create a mobile clinic, though the organization operates similar units elsewhere.

The need is acute. The Navajo Nation covers more than 27,000 square miles, and many mothers drive hours to Flagstaff or Gallup for prenatal visits. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, maternal mortality rates for Indigenous mothers are twice as high as those for white mothers.

Dr. Matthew Nelson, medical director of women and infant services at Sage Memorial Hospital, helped design the clinic. He said the burden of repeated travel can be overwhelming for patients managing pregnancy alongside other responsibilities.

"When their provider or doctor asks them to come back, come back every two weeks, that can be a significant pressure for them," Nelson said. "By being able to meet them where they're at, we take that burden off of them."

The mobile unit will offer general women's health services, including STI testing and cancer screening, along with maternal health care. Staff will handle laboratory work, provide lactation support, monitor pregnant mothers and listen to babies' heartbeats, Nelson said.

For Elayne Nez, who learned she was pregnant in January 2025 and gave birth to her son in October of that year, the clinic addresses challenges she knows firsthand. Nez lives less than 10 minutes from Sage Memorial Hospital, but she said many mothers face longer distances and compounding obstacles.

"Sometimes you don't qualify for health insurance out here, and then you don't have the transportation to come out here," Nez said.

Even her short commute was difficult. "It's nothing but dirt road, and coming to the main road it's just muddy," she said. "At times I would come to Dr. Nelson's office with mud shoes. And at one point I told him I wish you could just meet me in a mobile vehicle somewhere close, and we laughed about it."

That wish is now a reality for families across the reservation. Nez said seeing the clinic on the Nation fills her with pride.

"What it means for me is I get to see this on the reservation, them tracking, and I get to say, 'Hey, look at that vehicle, they made that possible,'" she said. "I love it."

The clinic's launch comes as rural health systems nationwide struggle with closures and staffing shortages, disproportionately affecting tribal and low-income communities. For the Navajo Nation, the mobile unit represents a community-centered approach to closing gaps in maternal care — bringing services to patients rather than asking patients to overcome distance, weather and infrastructure to reach them.