Neighborhood Hub Health Program at Booker Washington Center begins
Neighborhood Hub Health Program at Booker Washington Center begins Heading link
The UICOMR Department of Family and Community Medicine is providing preventive health screenings in partnership with the African American Resource Center (AARC) at Booker Washington Community Center, 524 Kent Street in Rockford.
The Neighborhood Hub Health Program is under the leadership of UICOMR’s Dr. Aarohi Munshi with support from Dr. Manu Khare, Kathleen Monteleone and Vicki Weidenbacher-Hoper along with Karen Waller, AARC’s executive director.
UIC family medicine resident Dr. Sarthak Kulshreshtha, ran and attended the first session on November 21, 2024, along with third-year family medicine clerkship medical students Xaviera Brierre, Shivali Shukla, Carson Florkowski, Rafael Torres and Jesse Garza.
During this event, the students and resident physicians conducted an engaging and informative day, providing community members with essential health services, including vital sign checks, preventive health screenings, physical exams, medication reviews, mental health screenings and health education. One patient was heard remarking how she hadn’t received such a thorough physical examination in a long time. Additionally, Community Health Outreach Counselors Sara Silvers and Anays Appino from UI Health Mile Square Health Center-L.P. Johnson Rockford were available to assist community members without established primary care physicians or dentists by providing referrals.
The Neighborhood Hub Health Program will continue to offer free preventive health screenings at AARC-Booker Community Center every six weeks as a part of the family medicine clerkship and Family Medicine Residency Program community medicine rotation.
This initiative arose from a grassroots effort by the Division of Health Research and Evaluation team, which recognized a need for healthcare support in the neighborhood and medical and educational needs in community health. This effort supports the mission of the UICOMR Department of Family and Community Medicine; “To promote health and equity among patients, learners, and communities through excellence in clinical care, education, research and service.”