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New Mobile Health Coordinator to Lead Soft Launch

The Center for Health Research will begin offering free medical screenings and referrals for pregnant women and their newborns on its mobile health unit this summer. The project will be led by Cristina Macedo, the new mobile health project coordinator. These services are part of a soft launch and will allow staff to spread the word about the free prenatal and newborn care that will be offered beginning in fall 2018.

Macedo, who is bilingual in English and Spanish has worked at other local non-profits and as a translator with local school districts. She was with CAPSLO for several years and worked with the Early Head Start program and as a Health Navigator, enrolling children into MediCal and insurance through the Affordable Care Act. She received her master’s degree from Federico Villarreal University in Peru.

“Cal Poly has such a great reputation, and I was always looking for ways to get involved here,” Macedo said. “Through this job, I get to be involved with Cal Poly and work with the community, which is what I love to do.”

In the fall, staff hopes the unit will park at locations in Santa Maria and Guadalupe twice a week. There, resident physicians will offer services and Macedo will work with students as they provide educational programming for clients. Until then, the Center hopes to promote the unit at farmers’ markets and health clinics, where Macedo and staff will be offering blood pressure screenings and referrals.

The clinic is a collaboration between Cal Poly and the SLO NOOR Foundation and will allow more pregnant women in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties to receive access to prenatal care. Macedo will be working with Center Director Suzanne Phelan to coordinate services, health education and research. Abe Lincoln, executive director of the NOOR Foundation, will coordinate volunteer physicians and health practitioners providing care on the unit. The Center is also recruiting a community translator to interpret for Spanish and Mixteco speaking patients and assist Macedo on the unit.

 

 

Cristina Macedo (pictured above), the new Mobile Health Coordinator, will lead the unit's soft launch this fall.

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