Ascension - Medical Mission at Home

Overview

Ascension’s Medical Mission at Home was launched in 2008 as a way to deliver quality health care to the uninsured and underinsured in Nashville. The program originated in Davidson County, Tennessee, which had approximately 87,000 uninsured. An assessment revealed significant barriers to care for specialty care, behavioral health and dental care. Medical Mission at Home day-long events now provide free services such as primary care, dental care, prescriptions, eye exams and eyeglasses, social services referrals, flu shots and follow-up to those who need it most.

Prescriptions are provided through the Dispensary of Hope, another program that originated at Ascension’s Saint Thomas Health in 2007. It now distributes millions of dollars of drugs annually to charitable clinics and pharmacies that dispense it to low-income, uninsured patients. With each Medical Mission at Home, processes were improved, more services were added and more of the poor and underserved benefitted from the events. By 2014, Saint Thomas Health was conducting three to four Medical Mission day-long events each year.

Impact

With the help of countless local and regional partners, Saint Thomas Health has conducted 26 events, representing more than 20,000 patient encounters since 2008. Last year alone, more than 6,000 services were provided during seven Medical Mission at Home events at Ascension sites of care in Washington, DC; Binghamton, NY; Bridgeport, CT; and Mobile, AL; in addition to Nashville, TN. The program continues to expand.

Lessons Learned

With so many partnering organizations eager to help, confirm the “owner” of the event and ensure that organization retains primary management for the event.

Future Goals

Work with various local and regional partners to expand the Medical Mission at Home program to more communities Ascension serves.

Contact: Nick Ragone, Esq.
Senior Vice President/Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Telephone: 314-733-8941
Email: nick.ragone@ascension.org