The University of Arizona Department of Family and Community Medicine’s Mobile Health Program received a $450,000 gift from Banner Health Foundation’s “Highest and Best Use Awards” program.
The funds will support staffing and operations to bring its second mobile clinic into full service. This will enable the Mobile Health Program to provide an additional 2,000 patient visits in the mobile family medicine and dental clinics, and an additional 350 patient visits in the mobile prenatal clinic.
“This is an extraordinary gift that exemplifies Banner Health’s commitment to helping those in need in our community,” said Myra Muramoto, MD, MPH, professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson. “We are so grateful for Banner’s generous support of this program.”
Banner Health Foundation’s “Highest and Best Use Awards” program began in 2007 as an innovative way to distribute unrestricted gifts and a portion of the interest earnings on the Foundation’s assets, excluding endowments. Since then, more than $37 million has been awarded through the program to jump-start new health programs, sustain critical services for vulnerable populations and expand successful initiatives to benefit more patients.
“The Banner Health Foundation board of directors is pleased every year to approve funding for critical programs like the mobile health unit,” said Steve Moak, the Foundation’s board chairman. “Charitable gifts to Banner help ensure that health care is available to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay or their proximity to a medical center. The mobile health unit is one of many innovative initiatives that extend Banner’s reach into the community and make life better for Arizona children and families. The board is extremely proud to support this work.”
“There is such a great need throughout Tucson for affordable primary care services,” said Ravi Grivois-Shah, MD, MPH, MBA, FAAFP, clinical associate professor and medical director of the Mobile Health Program. “I’m excited to partner with Banner Health Foundation to meet the needs in our communities for those who otherwise would go without care in managing their diabetes, treating infections and injuries and ensuring healthy pregnancies.”
The Mobile Health Program has provided quality health-care services for underserved and rural communities in Southern Arizona for more than 40 years. The program brings full-service primary care, at no cost, to low-income residents in medically underserved communities throughout Pima County. Two nurse practitioners from the UA College of Nursing provide clinical care, along with two family medicine physicians, supported by a medical assistant, community health educator and a driver. Together, they provide prenatal care for expectant mothers, chronic disease management, health screenings, preventive services, acute care and preventive dental care. In addition, the program trains family medicine resident-physicians and UA medical, nursing, pharmacy and public health students.
Learn more about the UA Mobile Health Program: http://bit.ly/2HoNXLA
About the UA Department of Family and Community Medicine
The UA Department of Family and Community Medicine at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson is one of the top-ranking family medicine programs in the country. The department is known for outstanding pre- and post-doctoral education, groundbreaking research and innovative community outreach programs designed to improve the health of individuals, families and communities in the region and beyond. The department places strong emphasis on research, particularly in the fields of tobacco cessation, substance abuse, obesity and related diseases, cancer survivorship, behavioral health and disabilities, and Native American and Latino health.
About Banner Health
Headquartered in Arizona, Banner Health is one of the largest nonprofit health-care systems in the country. The system owns and operates 28 acute-care hospitals, the Banner Health Network, Banner – University Medicine, Banner Medical Group, long-term care centers, outpatient surgery centers and an array of other services, including family clinics, home care and hospice services, pharmacies and a nursing registry. Banner Health is in six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. For more information, visit BannerHealth.com.