Joined CHF’s National Network: December 2005, as part of Operation Assist
Home Institution/Affiliation: Coastal Family Health Center, Inc., Gulfport, MS
Medical Director: Persharon Dixon, MD
Sampling of Services:
CHF's Special Initiatives implemented:
Areas Served: Communities affected by Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Biloxi and surrounding areas of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Children's Health Project (MGCCHP) was established in response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The Children’s Health Fund quickly mobilized post-Katrina by forming Operation Assist, a collaborative effort between CHF and the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
As CHF clinicians provided urgent care to hurricane victims, it quickly became evident that pre-existing deficiencies in the healthcare system greatly exacerbated the effects of the hurricane. In fact, child health indicators rank Mississippi 50th in the nation. Pervasive barriers to care contributing to this include lack of transportation, lack of insurance, geographic isolation and financial instability. Nearly one third of all children in Mississippi lived in poverty before Katrina.
In order to address this troubling disparity in access to health care, CHF formed the Mississippi Gulf Coast Children’s Health Project. The MGCCHP utilizes state-of-the-art mobile medical units to deliver comprehensive primary and mental health care. Mobile medical units are uniquely suited to the provision of post-disaster health care, allowing clinical teams to bring services directly where they are needed most – and to respond to the changing conditions and needs of the community.
The MGCCHP serves the Mississippi Gulf Coast using two mobile units: one dedicated to primary care and another dedicated to mental health care, as part of the Community Support and Resiliency Program (CSRP). Recognizing that mental health care plays a crucial role in the response to any disaster, the CSRP places an emphasis on counseling and community outreach, as well as mental health trainings for health care, education and social workers in the community.
The MGCCHP provides comprehensive primary and mental health care - without regard to ability to pay - at public schools, FEMA sites and other community centers.
