Fund-A-Need
Golisano Children's Hospital on the Move
2024 Fund-a-Need
Addressing health inequities and improving access to medical care — through mobile care that goes where kids go.
UR Medicine’s Golisano Children’s Hospital (GCH) is launching a mobile medical initiative to improve access to healthcare for children who experience barriers accessing care in traditional settings. This fund-a-need effort will strive to raise the $2.5 million necessary to build and operate a large mobile medical clinic and outreach program, focused on reaching these children in the City of Rochester and the Finger Lakes region and satisfying unmet healthcare needs.
THE NEED
Access to healthcare is crucial for children to grow into thriving adults with better long-term health outcomes. However, in the region that GCH serves — whether within the City of Rochester, the suburbs, or rural communities — evidence points to considerable barriers to care for tens of thousands of children and adolescents:
- More than 1,500 children and youth under 16 years old in Monroe County were documented as unhoused and in homeless shelters in 2023.
- Each year, more than 2,000 children and teens in the Rochester City School District face dismissal from school because they have not received mandated vaccines.
- Rochester has notably higher rates of childhood asthma and related hospitalizations compared to state and national averages, an indicator that improved access to preventive and specialty services is needed.
Whether it is due to transportation barriers, difficulty arranging childcare, or a lack of paid time off for parents, too many children are not getting the healthcare they need. If they are unable to come to us, our commitment to the GCH mission — to do everything in our power to help children reach their full potential — compels us to bring care to them.
THE SOLUTION
A mobile healthcare clinic will allow us to bring high quality GCH providers and services directly to communities and meet our patients where they live, learn, and play. GCH Mobile Care will be equipped to provide preventive care — including immunizations — as well as acute care, management of chronic health conditions, mental and behavioral health assessment, and social care needs for hundreds of children and teens who are not currently receiving healthcare. Other services, such as facilitated insurance enrollment and telemedicine for specialty care consultations, will provide a comprehensive experience to address healthcare needs. For children without established primary care, or with gaps in accessing care, the mobile clinic will deliver needed services while providing resources to establish regular medical care with a primary care provider.
“We believe every child should have access to high quality healthcare. We need to meet them where they are.”
— LJ Shipley, MD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics
THE VISION
We seek to raise $2.5 million to build a mobile medical unit and cover program costs for three years. These funds will include:
- CAPITAL INVESTMENT: Purchasing and outfitting a mobile unit built to specified needs. — $600,000
- PEOPLE AND PROGRAM: An interprofessional team with the necessary clinical expertise and resources to develop the program, build the community support infrastructure, and support patients’ medical, mental health, and social care needs. — $1.7 million
- OPERATING EXPENSES: Vehicle maintenance, fuel, insurance, marketing, and supplies. — $200,000
To govern the development and implementation of the GCH Mobile Care Program, we have established a Core Clinical Planning Group that includes experts in pediatric practice, population health, quality outcomes, community partnership, and integrated community services. We have also engaged the Children’s Health Fund, an organization recognized nationally for breaking down barriers to care in under-resourced communities — including expertise in impactful mobile clinic initiatives — to provide consulting services.
Golisano Children’s Hospital has a strong foundation of community partnerships and programs that position us to successfully launch this critically needed bridge to care. Opportunities will be available to partner and coordinate with existing UR Medicine mobile services including the Eastman Institute for Oral Health SMILEmobiles as well as the Flaum Eye Institute Vision Van.
“We are excited about this partnership as it promises to not only make a difference in the health and well-being of children in the Rochester area, but also to become a national model for establishing a sustainable program that brings quality healthcare to children growing up in under-resourced communities.”
– Arturo Brito, MD, MPH
President and CEO, Children’s Health Fund
YOUR IMPACT
You can help reduce barriers to healthcare and make sure that thousands of children in our region receive the primary care and vaccines they need to attend school, while also facilitating access to specialty care to help them thrive. Whether you lead this effort with a fund-a-need gift of $100,000, one in the $10,000 to $50,000 range, or in the $50 to $5,000 range, your support will make a difference in addressing health inequities and ensuring a brighter future for our community’s children.
To participate, please contact Scott Rasmussen at srasmussen@admin.rochester.edu or (585) 766-2993.