Joined CHF’s National Network: July 1997
Home Institution/Affiliation: Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Women, Orlando, FL
Medical Director: Vinny Chulani, MD, MSEd, FSAM
Program Director: Kathryn Fritz, RN
Sampling of Services:
CHF's Special Initiatives:
Areas Served: Urban communities in Florida's Orange county, including the city of Orlando.
The Orlando Children's Health Project (OCHP) provides services to Orlando's adolescents at area schools and an adolescent homeless shelter.
Adolescents in the schools served by the project come from the zip codes with the highest poverty rates in Orange County. Children are bused into these schools from the poorest areas, where they often live in government housing occupied by multiple family members and relatives. The population served by the project also includes a high number of newly arrived Haitian students. These students, with limited English, sometimes live in the United States without their parents, staying with friends or family members.
Health challenges faced by the patients of the OCHP include nutrition related illnesses, sexually transmitted diseases, unplanned pregnancies and mental health issues. By providing comprehensive primary care, without regard to ability to pay, the Orlando Children's Health Project significantly reduces health care disparities facing economically disadvantaged adolescents.
