On the road again

Catholic Charities relaunches mobile ultrasound van and is receiving a strong response

By Bill Brewer

For Catholic Charities of East Tennessee’s mobile ultrasound clinic, the second time is apparently a charm as the year-old van is being reintroduced throughout the Diocese of Knoxville.

Following a temporary hiatus in late 2025, the mobile ultrasound team is again traveling through East Tennessee serving young women and promoting life for newborns and their parents.

A mobile ultrasound unit has been a longtime goal for Sandi Davidson, CCETN program leader for pregnancy services. Through fundraising and assistance from the Knights of Columbus and pro-life groups, Catholic Charities raised enough money to purchase the van and its onboard ultrasound equipment.

Catholic Charities first rolled out the mobile clinic on Jan. 23, 2025, at its Pregnancy Help Center in Helenwood next to St. Jude Church.

The van complements Catholic Charities’ main ultrasound clinic inside the social services agency’s Knoxville headquarters at 119 Dameron Ave.

They are part of Catholic Charities’ pregnancy services ministry that serves young women and couples from all faiths—or no faith—and all walks of life.

The ministry offers a variety of services for women and families in any and every circumstance:

• 24-hour helpline;
• Six pregnancy help centers to provide education on pregnancy and parenting;
• Free ultrasound testing to allow women to see their babies;
• Material assistance, such as diapers and formula;
• Sexually transmitted infection testing;
• Community referrals;
• Adoption services;
• Project Rachel, which provides post-abortion healing and recovery.

Response to the relaunch last month of the mobile ultrasound clinic has been very positive, according to Mrs. Davidson.

“It’s progressing really well just in the first week that we were out. We are very hopeful,” she said.

Mrs. Davidson explained that launching the ultrasound van just over a year ago was initially trial and error logistically.

“We went to as many places as we could, doing maybe once a month at different sites. And we didn’t do a whole lot of outreach, which was difficult. But we learned from that. We learned that we really have to prepare the area ahead of time,” Mrs. Davidson said.

Another complicating factor was the departure of the mobile clinic’s registered nurse, who administered the ultrasounds and helped manage the day-to-day operation. She returned to secular health care.

In its first six months of operation, the mobile clinic performed 19 ultrasounds, and 10 of those women were “abortion-vulnerable,” meaning they were considering having an abortion as well as keeping their babies or placing for adoption.

To the credit of the clinic and the expectant mothers, none of the 10 had an abortion. The other nine women had already decided to parent their babies.

By comparison, the ultrasound clinic at Catholic Charities’ main offices in the last six months performed ultrasounds on 25 women who were seriously considering abortion. Five women gave birth, three had abortions, 17 women did not report their decision after receiving their ultrasounds, and one mother miscarried.

There were 78 women who were abortion-vulnerable, with 70 of them parenting their child, three who did not report their decision, three miscarried, and two who placed their babies for adoption with Catholic Charities’ A Loving Option Adoption agency.

“Those are pretty good stats, I think,” Mrs. Davidson said, pointing out that the statistics are confirming the need for the ultrasound clinics.

The main in-house clinic began operating in January 2024, and from January to June 2024 it gave 223 pregnancy tests and 160 ultrasounds. The clinic also counseled six women who were abortion-minded, four women who parented their babies, and two women who miscarried. And of 62 women who were abortion-vulnerable, 59 kept their babies and three did not report their decision.

The mobile clinic returned to operation last month with a renewed sense of mission.

“We didn’t serve people for a good six months. That gave us some time to really look at the program and do some research on what is the best way to do this. We worked closer with Save the Storks, and we decided that we were not going to go to as many places but do it every week,” she noted.

“That way the area would be used to seeing us, and they could help us get the word out. We also were more strategic in where we went—the sites that we picked,” she added.

The ultrasound van was setting up in Chattanooga at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, which is downtown. Although Mrs. Davidson said the basilica was excellent in hosting the van, the logistics of parking downtown made the site difficult for women to access.

Now, St. Stephen Parish on the east side of Chattanooga has been hosting the van each month as well as the Ladies of Charity near the Tennessee-Georgia border.

“St. Stephen and Ladies of Charity have been very gracious in letting us use their parking lots,” Mrs. Davidson said.

Each Tuesday, the ultrasound clinic sets up at Central Services, a Morristown social services agency located at 2450 Newport Highway. Each Wednesday the van is in Crossville at Plateau Pregnancy Services, 99 Walker Hill St. And each Thursday, it is in Chattanooga, alternating at either St. Stephen Church, 7111 Lee Highway, or Ladies of Charity, 2821 Rossville Blvd.

The February relaunch is seeing results.

“We are now seeing women respond in just our first week out,” Mrs. Davidson said. “We did a lot of prep work in Chattanooga along with Morristown. Morristown has boomed. We are booked two weeks out. That one is really thriving thanks to St. Patrick Parish and Central Services.”

She noted the mobile clinic also is working with TN Strong Families, a state initiative to support children and expectant mothers, at St. Patrick.

“In that area, we are really serving very well, and I’m very proud of what they’re doing there,” she said.

Mrs. Davidson attributes part of the newly invigorated response to social media outreach the ultrasound clinic staff is doing.

In Crossville, Catholic Charities is partnering with Plateau Pregnancy Services because it does not offer ultrasounds.

“They have been so wonderful in letting use their parking lot and letting us see their clients. We need to do more outreach in that area, so we are working on that,” Mrs. Davidson said.

She credits the ultrasound nursing staff for the early success of the relaunch, and she is hoping to find volunteer client specialists to accompany the nurses.

During a recent February visit to Central Services in Morristown, registered nurses Whitney Williams and Samantha Bigley worked with young women wanting to learn more about their babies in the womb. The nurses were assisted by volunteer Jan Martocci, who is a St. Patrick parishioner.

Ms. Bigley has been working with Catholic Charities’ main ultrasound clinic for two years and with the mobile clinic for about eight months.

She finds the work extremely rewarding.

“It’s the best job I can think of. It’s great,” she said. “We’ve seen women from six weeks all the way to 34 weeks as they get ultrasounds. We see patients who are excited. We’ve also seen patients who are not excited and are abortion-minded. We are able to talk with them, educate them about their options, and we are able to confirm the pregnancy and confirm that the baby is where it’s supposed to be.”

Ms. Bigley said they provide dates for when the pregnancy began and when the due date is, and she noted that patients can be as young as teens or middle-aged and come from all socio-economic backgrounds. She and Ms. Williams also counsel women who are considering an abortion.

“We’ve had many successes with women coming in and asking for an abortion or the abortion pill. We are able to talk with them and counsel them to change their mind. That is always the best-case scenario,” Ms. Bigley said.

The ultrasound image of a baby, it turns out, is always the most persuasive reason to complete a pregnancy, according to the nurses.

“That is usually the turning point for when they change their mind. Seeing that heart rate makes it all the more real. It’s definitely powerful,” Ms. Bigley said. “It’s very important. It’s life and death.”

Ms. Williams, who has been with the mobile clinic for four months, did not realize her nursing practice would go in the direction of a mobile ultrasound van.

“But the Lord did. I feel like my professional career and my personal life have led me here. And it’s just really cool to see the Lord’s hand in that,” Ms. Williams said.

Mrs. Davidson, Ms. Bigley, and Ms. Williams witness the importance of their work on a daily basis.

“Lives are changed. Absolutely. It’s so rewarding. Like Samantha said, we have moms who come in and are really excited and we have moms who are scared to death. Just being able to walk with them, hand in hand, and provide them resources and provide them hope. Truth is amazing,” Ms. Williams said.

Mrs. Davidson, Ms. Bigley, and Ms. Williams are encouraging the communities served by the mobile ultrasound clinic to take note of its presence and its impact.

“We want to let them know that we are here for them. We are excited to serve them in every capacity. There is no cost for the ultrasounds we provide. Our service is free,” Ms. Williams said.

She emphasized that the service provided by the mobile clinic doesn’t end with the ultrasound. She and Ms. Bigley provide a verification of pregnancy to the expectant mothers. If the women don’t have insurance, they can submit the form to receive WIC, which is a special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children.

“WIC is invaluable to a lot of our patients. They are not going to get in with their doctor’s office immediately, so it can take several weeks for them to even get an appointment. They can take our form straight to the health department and get started on WIC,” Ms. Williams explained.

Ms. Bigley echoed her co-worker’s message for East Tennessee communities.

“We are free. We are available. We want to change lives. We want to be able to give hope and be that sound voice to give people knowledge and truth for their pregnancy,” she said. “And we have six pregnancy help centers in addition to the ultrasound van across East Tennessee in Helenwood, Chattanooga, Johnson City, Knoxville, LaFollette, and Newcomb to provide mothers with resources.”

As a volunteer assisting the ultrasound van, Ms. Martocci witnessed the ministry’s impact up close. Tuesday, Feb. 17, was her first day on the job.

“I had been looking for an opportunity to volunteer with my parish for quite some time. I was recently laid off, so this is perfect timing for me,” she said, noting that the pro-life work of the mobile ultrasound clinic and the pro-life teaching of the Catholic Church are very important to her.

“I think the mobile clinic is a great resource for the young gals who are first just needing to get some help,” Ms. Martocci added, noting that complicated medical care these days can pose a hardship for young women who are expecting a child. “Getting answers is very valuable for them. This is a wonderful option for them.”

Mrs. Davidson is grateful for faithful volunteers like Ms. Martocci, and she is hoping to find more like the St. Patrick parishioner to assist the mobile clinic.

“We have great volunteers, and we’re trying to recruit volunteers so that they can greet clients and do intakes, things like that,” Mrs. Davidson noted. “In order to go out, we must have two people on board the van. We want to make sure that each time we go out we have two people. And we always need volunteers.”

As the mobile ultrasound clinic staff works to build a presence in Chattanooga, Crossville, and Morristown, Mrs. Davidson and her team won’t be content with four sites.

“We will be looking at other sites to go to. We won’t go out on Fridays. It will probably be on Mondays. We know that there is a big need in Claiborne County. So, that might be where we go. We just need to do the research and see where the best place is to go,” she said.

“We do want to go to Johnson City. However, there is a church there that says they are offering ultrasounds. So, we don’t want to go where someone else is doing it. But it has been a year and they still have not launched,” she added. “We want to reach as many places as we can. But we want to be effective where we are at.”

Despite the van’s relatively small appearance, Mrs. Davidson shared that there are many details that go into operating it.

The mobile clinic must be medically licensed and the staff must show that procedures are properly administered.

The secure van’s features include a bathroom, a refrigerator, a privacy curtain, air conditioning and heating, a security monitor, cameras, and an easy-to-clean interior.

The portable ultrasound machine on board includes a television to show patients images of their babies and a laptop to record important information about the patient and her baby.

The pregnancy records given for free to expectant mothers are critical as the mothers go on to receive medical care and assistance with resources.

“What we can do is refer them to the places in their communities that will help them. We can confirm their pregnancies so they can get on WIC. We talk to them about their options. We are pretty thorough with that. If they want to parent, we have all these programs: Her PLAN, TN Strong Families Grant, our Earn While You Learn program, we can refer them to our adoption agency, and if they are abortion-minded, we definitely go over what that is and that it is illegal in Tennessee,” Mrs. Davidson said.

Mrs. Davidson noted that the registered nurses who work with Catholic Charities’ ultrasound clinics are under the direction of a physician: Dr. Marlyn Leisy, a retired obstetrician/gynecologist. Dr. Leisy is the medical director of Catholic Charities’ ultrasound clinics.

“Our volunteer medical doctor reviews records and makes sure that the program is run properly,” Mrs. Davidson explained.

She hopes to be able to reach as many people as possible through the ultrasound clinics.

The original plan for the mobile ultrasound program was to have vans in Chattanooga and the Tri-Cities in addition to the Knoxville area, although Mrs. Davidson doesn’t believe that is feasible at this point.

But that won’t prevent Catholic Charities from extending its pregnancy help services as far as it can. Mrs. Davidson is concerned that pregnant women in rural areas of East Tennessee as well as in urban areas with limited or no access to health care are at risk.

“We want to make sure that if they can’t get to us, then we can get to them. Even if we don’t come to your area, we can refer you to places close to you where you can get help. There are other pregnancy centers that do ultrasounds. We refer to them if they are good. Most all of them are,” she said.

“The reason we need to cover all of East Tennessee is because some may say there are hospitals everywhere. There aren’t,” she noted. “In some of the rural areas we are going to, it takes an hour to get to Knoxville or Chattanooga or the Tri-Cities. These women are being induced early and having babies early so they don’t have them on the highway trying to get to a hospital, which is not good for the mom and not good for the baby.

“There is such a big need. We have homeless women. We have those who have no transportation in our rural areas. The earlier we can get to them, the earlier they can start prenatal care, which is essential. We can connect them with those resources they need,” she concluded. “We want healthy moms and we want healthy babies. That’s our goal.”

For more information about Catholic Charities of East Tennessee’s services, including the mobile ultrasound clinic and ultrasound clinic locations, volunteer opportunities, or appointment information, visit www.ccetn.org.