A. Lee Graham
Reporter
UNT Health Science Center is rolling out its new Pediatric Mobile Clinic, a 40-foot RV bringing health care services to children living in Fort Worth’s most underserved communities.
Touted as a “doctor’s office on wheels,” the clinic is a first-of-its-kind in Fort Worth, which is the nation’s largest city without a mobile unit designated specifically for pediatric patients.
The clinic will offer weekly visits to four neighborhoods: Como, Morningside, North Side and Stop Six. It promises wellness visits, sports physicals, routine checkups, immunizations, screening, laboratory testing and education in nutrition, physical activity and dental health — all at no cost to families.
The vehicle boasts two patient exam rooms, areas for case management, social services, registration, laboratory and specimen collection, and a pharmacy. It will be staffed by an experienced team of bilingual clinical professionals from UNT Health Science Center, including a board-certified pediatrician, registered nurse, licensed vocational nurse, social worker, medical assistants and other health care professionals. It also will include a research team led by a Ph.D. in pediatric epidemiology.
Serving as the clinic’s medical director is Dr. Christina Robinson, assistant professor of pediatrics, who grew up in the Stop Six community, graduated from Dunbar High and calls herself a “a proud member of the high-stepping Dunbar Wildcat Marching Band.”
“It’s exciting for me to go back to my hometown community,” Robinson said in a news release. “My own pediatrician was the one who inspired me to go into medicine.”
Through the mobile unit and other initiatives, UNT Health Science Center said it hopes to improve the quality of care and overall health of children in Tarrant County, 75,000 of whom are uninsured.
“By bringing health care services directly to communities in need, we will help families overcome the traditional barriers to health care access,” said Laura Standish, RN, the clinic’s director and a Fort Worth native.