Donors Get On-Site Experience with UM Pediatric Mobile Clinic

For many donors, there is no better way to know their gift is making a difference than by seeing it in action. For two representatives from Canon Solutions America, getting a first-hand look at how the University of Miami Pediatric Mobile Clinic cares for patients is all the proof they need.

“This is one of our favorite projects due to the direct impact that we have on the communities here,” said Andrea Rai, senior manager of strategic partnerships – Higher Education Advisory Team (HEAT) with Canon Solutions America. “You can see it in the faces of the children, their parents, and in the passion of the doctors and medical residents.”

Rai and colleague David Cavanaugh, senior director of national strategy, marketing, and strategic markets, recently visited the mobile clinic to watch as the physicians and staff cared for more than a dozen children in Hialeah.

Though not planned, their visit coincided with Red Nose Day, a national effort that seeks to help end child poverty. Many of the staff members and patients donned red noses in support of the effort.

“We were thrilled to visit on Red Nose Day because it represents the spirit of what we are all trying to achieve — helping children succeed against the odds,” said Cavanaugh. “Canon Solutions America is proud to be a supporter of the Pediatric Mobile Clinic and to do our part to help increase the chances of these students leading healthy, successful lives.”

UM’s Pediatric Mobile Clinic drives into underserved and impoverished communities, setting up near schools, community service centers, and houses of worship. There, the multicultural staff provides access to comprehensive, quality medical and mental health care, social service assistance, and case management services, regardless of the family’s ability to pay.

When a problem requires more in-depth attention, the Pediatric Mobile Clinic has a state-of-the-art telemedicine program to provide remote consultations with a physician-specialist on UM’s Miller School of Medicine campus.

“When our supporters see us in action, they love what we do, and become very engaged,” said Lisa Gwynn, D.O., medical director of the Pediatric Mobile Clinic. “I am so thankful that Canon Solutions America understands the mission and is so extremely supportive.”

By being out in the community, the Pediatric Mobile Clinic also promotes health education and healthy living. Future health care providers gain experience for careers that will reduce health care disparities.

“The Pediatric Mobile Clinic is emblematic of the University of Miami Department of Pediatrics’ enduring partnership with our community and commitment to child health,” said Judy Schaechter, M.D., M.B.A., chair of the Department of Pediatrics, the George E. Batchelor Endowed Chair in Pediatrics, and chief of service at Holtz Children’s Hospital.

The Pediatric Mobile Clinic was established in 1992 as a response to the devastation of Hurricane Andrew, which left many children homeless and stranded without access to health care.

With the continued partnership and financial support from the Children’s Health Fund, as well as local/state grants and private donations, the work of the mobile clinic has continued uninterrupted.

“We are responding to the needs of our community,” said Gwynn, who is also associate professor of clinical pediatrics and clinical public health sciences; program director of the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation School Health Initiative; director of innovation and community engagement at the Mailman Center for Child Development; and associate division chief of general pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “To be able to care for children who don’t have any access to health care, in their own neighborhoods, is a win-win situation.”

Tags: Canon Solutions America, Dr. Lisa Gwynn, Pediatric Mobile Clinic