An anniversary of service
When Cesar Ramirez came down with a case of strep throat, his mother grappled with the decision of where to seek medical treatment.
Cesar, 13, is among the 75,000 Tarrant County children whose families don’t have medical insurance. His school nurse told his mother, Maria Rodriguez, that she should take her ailing son to UNTHSC’s Pediatric Mobile Clinic, which is celebrating its one-year anniversary of caring for Fort Worth children.
“I didn’t have anywhere else I could take my son because we do not have insurance,” Rodriguez said. “I am grateful they are available to us and other families who need a doctor.”
For Cesar, going to the clinic had a familiar feel. “We had a mobile clinic in Mexico where I’m from,” he said, “so this felt like home to me.”
The mobile clinic has delivered much-needed health care to kids at 43 sites across four underserved Fort Worth neighborhoods. Since June 2014, the clinic has treated more than 3,700 children, provided nearly 6,500 vision screenings and administered 1,600 vaccines.
With many underserved families using local hospital emergency rooms for routine care, the mobile clinic’s goal is to bring quality care to children at highest risk and lower overall costs by promoting good health and disease prevention. It does so with support from the Rainwater Charitable Foundation, the Morris Foundation, the Amon G. Carter Foundation, the Lockheed Martin AERO Club and others.
“I love it. Even on the hard days, you realize the value of what you’re doing,” said Christina Robinson, MD, the clinic’s medical director. “Every child we treat causes a ripple effect that impacts the overall health of our community.”
Chiqueta LaMarr, mother of five, brings her two youngest children to the clinic.
“Dr. Christina Robinson and the staff love my kids and take the time to give us their undivided attention,” she said. “There is no better place I would take my kids than here.”
![Uyen Sa Nguyen Scaled[58]](https://www.unthsc.edu/newsroom/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/Uyen-Sa-Nguyen-scaled58-145x175.jpg)
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