Walk onto any Hollywood studio lot, and you're likely to see a bevy of trailers serving as dressing rooms, mobile offices or even a cafeteria. But lately, there has been another kind of trailer seen outside soundstages, and at this one, a doctor will see you. Not Doogie Howser, mind you, but a real one.
Outliers: Lights, camera, blood test?
It's sponsored by the Motion Picture and Television Fund, a charitable organization started in 1921 by some of Hollywood's legendary early stars, including Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. Health Wheels makes the rounds on Hollywood backlots four times a week, according to the L.A. Daily News, serving employees who work behind the scenes on TV shows and movies. They routinely work 14-hour days, making it hard to leave the lot to see a physician.
The 30-foot-long mobile clinic includes an exam room and nurse's station and can handle everything from skin biopsies to blood work to ear wax buildup. (Using ear plugs on set is common in the studios.) But getting an exam in the clinic isn't free, as the costs are billed to insurance. Still, the clinic is just about the closest you can get to a doctor making a house call.
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