Mobile Clinic Upgrades Expand Year-Round Vision Services for Taos Students

Many Taos students identified through school vision screenings are unable to access timely follow-up eye exams, leaving vision issues that can directly impact learning unaddressed. Last year alone, screenings conducted by the KidSight mobile clinic—which brings optometry services directly to school sites—resulted in more than 800 referrals. Despite its important work, the KidSight clinic operated for only a few months. Outdated heating and cooling systems, along with limited generator capacity, restricted its ability to run consistently and serve more students.

To address this infrastructure barrier and extend mobile clinic service, members of the Lions Club of Taos developed a solution: upgrading the clinic’s heating, cooling, and onboard power systems to ensure safe, reliable operation throughout the school year.

With support from LOR, the Lions Club will install two rooftop heat pump units, an upgraded trailer-mounted generator, and integrated electrical systems designed to maintain stable operating temperatures and support sensitive ophthalmic equipment. These improvements will create a safe, comfortable environment for students and volunteer optometrists, while also protecting equipment during transport to remote school sites.

The mobile clinic provided 240 exams during its first operating season (September–December). With these upgrades, the extended service season is expected to more than double that number. As the only mobile optometry clinic currently operating in New Mexico, the KidSight program also serves as a pilot model, with Lions Club leaders documenting the approach to help inform replication of mobile vision services statewide.