UA’s Mobile Health Program Expands Services
The UA Mobile Health Program has expanded its primary-care services in partnership with the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF), Youth on Their Own (YOTO) and Primavera Foundation’s Casa Paloma. The mobile clinic provides full-service primary care to
The University of Arizona Mobile Health Program has expanded its services, in partnership with the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF), Youth on Their Own (YOTO) and Primavera Foundation’s Casa Paloma.
Family nurse practitioner Georgette George providing services at SAAF. Photo by Patricia Philbin.
The program, part of the UA Department of Family and Community Medicine, began its expanded services May 1.
The additional services were made possible thanks to a $450,000 gift from Banner Health Foundation earlier this year. The funds enabled the Mobile Health Program to hire a full-time family nurse practioner and bring its second mobile clinic into full service.
“We can now provide more than 2,000 patient visits each year in our primary care, prenatal and dental mobile clinics,” said Ravi Grivois-Shah, MD, MPH, MBA, FAAFP, clinical associate professor and medical director of the Mobile Health Program.
At SAAF, the Mobile Health Program will offer services to the LGBTQ community and other populations at risk of acquiring HIV. In addition, the program will offer pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to help prevent HIV transmission for individuals at higher risk.
“We’re very excited about our partnership with the Mobile Health Program,” said Michael R. Lopez, associate director of LGBTQ prevention services at SAAF. “For the past year, we’ve worked with Dr. Grivois-Shah to bring their services here. This partnership helps underserved communities, including the LGBTQ+ community, individuals of color and others at risk of acquiring HIV by providing primary care, STI testing and PrEP services here on site.”
At YOTO and the Primavera Foundation, the Mobile Health Program will provide health care for individuals who are homeless or have housing insecurity.
“Providing health care to adolescents and young adults affected by homelessness at Youth On Their Own and women at the Primara Foundation will improve the health and well-being of those most vulnerable in our community,” Dr. Grivois-Shah said.
The Mobile Health Program has provided primary care services for underserved and rural communities in Southern Arizona for more than 40 years. Services include: 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.
“We are grateful for the donation from Banner Health Foundation, which has enabled our Mobile Health Program to expand services to individuals in need at these three outstanding organizations, said Myra Muramoto, MD, MPH, professor and chair, UA Department of Family and Community Medicine.
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.