Accessing medical care can be daunting, inconvenient, and at times physically out of reach.
That’s where Mobile Medical Global steps in. Founder David Richards brings the equipment directly to you, completing tests on-site and getting the results to your doctor almost immediately.
In an interview with Express Business, Richards shared that the idea stemmed from what he could only describe as “divine intervention”.
“I served in the army from 1998 to 2008, and I did some charity work with an NGO and a church, and I left the church. I was unemployed, and I was in a very dark, very low place, contemplating suicide and a bunch of things. I was trained as a radiographer on scholarship from the army. And when I left, I was just depressed.”
However, Richards said there was a pile of papers at his home that needed to be discarded, but before he did that, he saw an advertisement for a nurse at a local hospital.
“I applied for the nurse’s position, and somehow my resume ended up in the radiology department. They called me for the interview. I went, and I was two years without practice, and it was as though I remembered nothing, because, again, I was in depression.”
Despite not practising for two years, Richards was given the opportunity by the hospital to get accustomed to working with the machines again, and he started right away.
“One day, the hospital was really busy, and there was an old lady out in the corridor, who was in pain, and after a while, she came to the X-ray department to get an X-ray done. In talking to her, she started to lament and talked about all the experiences that she had getting into the hospital, and then the problem with waiting in the corridor and then waiting to see the doctor, to then coming and getting the X-ray.”
Richards recalled how close he was to his paternal and maternal grandmothers, leading to his idea of portable medical machinery exploding in his mind.
“I just started to think, well, if this were my grandmother, what I could do as a medical professional to help her alleviate all of this discomfort and pain and stress, and that’s when the idea exploded when I started doing research.”
“This was in 2012 by faith and not knowing how I was going to do it. I registered the company, but I registered it as DR X-ray Company Ltd for David Richards X-ray Company Ltd. But when people saw it, they started to think, Dr (doctor) X-ray. So now I’m known across the country as Dr X-ray. But when we started to add other services, we had to change the name because it’s no longer just X-rays.”
Mobile Medical Global offers ultrasounds, ECGs (electrocardiograms), and echocardiograms and even blood tests, as the company has a partnership with blood labs to get certain tests done.
When he first started doing research for the business venture, it was expensive, and the equipment at the time was not easily portable and would require a larger vehicle.
“So, because of things that were going on in my life, I didn’t have the money, and I shelved the idea there. Fast forward five years, and I registered the company.”
Following this, he went to a Society of Radiographers event where he met the owner of a company selling mobile equipment.
“After a few months, I finally got on to the owner. We had a long-term back-and-forth conversation about the system, and he was so patient. He was actually doing portable lectures in the US. But because he wanted to slow down and transition, he bought the company that was selling the equipment. Now, I have access to a wealth of knowledge and experience.”
Richards then poured his savings into this project and even borrowed from his brother to get the business up and running.
“The machines came in November of 2020, and in 2021 was when we decided to start, and it took three or four months before we were able to be profitable, just be able to cover our loan to our expenses, especially the loan payment.”
Richards recalled his first customer who yelled at him over the price of his service, which made him feel defeated, especially as he’d spent all his money on the company. He did highlight that his costs are upwards of $700, depending on the service.
But it did not deter him, and he established a customer base for himself. He added that, in addition to doing house calls, the X-ray image and report are provided within 24 hours.
Questioned about the safety of the patient and the radiographers on site, given that X-rays are predominantly done in separate rooms, Richards assured that the procedure is safe for all involved.
He explained that the hospitals have three types of X-ray systems, one of which is the mobile X-ray unit.
“After surgery, you might go to the ICU, and because the patients are connected to so many machines in the ICU, it is sometimes not possible for the patient to go to the X-ray department to get their X-rays done. So, you have what is called a mobile X-ray unit, where you would go between the beds and your radiographer will go up and take the X-ray. When they do that on the ward, they use three principles, or three guidelines that are associated with the golden rule of radiography, or radiation safety, which is called the ALARA principle. ALARA stands for as low as reasonably achievable,” said Richards.
He also noted that when you double your distance, the intensity of the radiation drops to one quarter.
The actual exposure lasts only milliseconds, and shielding, such as lead aprons or concrete walls, further reduces any risk.
“What we do is make sure the patient is in a room by themselves—whether it’s the bedroom, living room, wherever—we have the machine which has a cord that’s ten feet. So, we are ten feet away in the opposite direction.”
He added that he also ensures that none of the relatives or pets are around, so there’s a significant reduction in the possibility of accidental exposure.
Asked what sets him apart from other people who may enter the business as well, he said, “My golden rule: we don’t treat patients like family; we treat patients the way we would want to be treated.”
Richards also shared, jokingly, that there are many Chinese restaurants in this country extremely close to each other and sometimes even next to each other, but all are always in business.
“You will never see a Chinese restaurant complain about the next Chinese restaurant because they’re right next to each other or opposite each other, because the needs of the people are being met. And so that is my dream, that at least the caveat would do right by their patients, and they practice proper radiation safety, and they give good imaging, because it’s not about getting rich.”
