UNC Health Mobile Clinic Goes Beyond COVID-19 Testing
Breaking down barriers to health care access
Breaking down barriers to health care access
While the coronavirus has been devastating for many North Carolinians, underserved communities across the state are feeling an outsized impact from the outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted disparities in access to care and health outcomes across North Carolina and nationwide.
Thanks to the leadership of Population Health Services Manager Randi Towns and her UNC Health Alliance team, UNC Health is meeting underserved populations with much-needed care where they are.
With an initial investment from the UNC Health COVID-19 Response Fund, the team deployed a UNC Health mobile clinic on May 7 at Martin Street Baptist Church in Raleigh. The clinic is designed to provide COVID testing, education and support services for underrepresented communities with historically limited access to care.
“We started this project as a community engagement effort to address disparities in health outcomes,” Towns said. “We see that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting minorities, particularly African American and Latinx community members, so as a health care system we decided to deploy mobile testing to their communities.”
