Memphis, Tennessee

The Memphis Regional Children’s Health Project (MRCHP) provides services to children and families in rural West Tennessee who do not have a medical home. Through the mobile medical and health education clinics, the program identifies children’s health care needs, offers preventive health education, and links children to appropriate medical services. In 2018, the program provided 12,194 clinical encounters in addition to 1,327 health education encounters and 5,935 outreach contacts.

Children and their families in the area have limited access to medical care despite their close proximity to a hospital system. They are often faced with many barriers, including a lack of transportation and health insurance and a limited knowledge of available resources. Children in these communities are frequently treated by the project for conditions that include chronic asthma, diabetes, obesity, elevated blood pressure, elevated lead levels and teenage pregnancy.

By bringing comprehensive primary care directly to the community, the MRCHP aims to decrease emergency room visits and educate families about the value of having an ongoing relationship with a primary care provider.

Serving Communities in Need: Of the patients served by MRCHP, 48.9% of children are deemed economically disadvantaged as judged by their participation in the free and reduced lunch program. 49.3% of youth on the state level are on TennCare and 6% of the youth at the state level dropout of school.