UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES

Every year, the American Academy of Pediatrics offers their Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) grants to residents to implement community based child health initiatives. Our program is proud to have been the recipients of these competitive grants over the last decade and have created sustainable program that advance access to health in our local communities. 

We provide a required 1-month rotation early in the intern year during which residents, working in groups, learn advocacy skills, gain a better understanding of social determinants of health and of some of the challenges faced by families in Providence. They explore the communities, learn about resources and are introduced to a myriad of community organizations. Together, residents will design projects that address specific issues that come to light during the rotation.

The Fostering Health Program was established to address obstacles to health care experienced by Rhode Island’s children in foster, kinship and congregate care. As a component of Hasbro Children’s Hospital’s primary care services, the Fostering Health Program is committed to providing timely, comprehensive, family- centered services as well as ongoing trauma informed primary care. We work closely with community partners including caseworkers from Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF), foster families, biological parents, group homes, mental, behavior and developmental providers as well as schools. The team consists of Colleen Deems, MSN CPNP, a pediatric nurse practitioner, Carol Lewis, MD, a pediatrician and a Laurie-Ann Sepe, LPN, a nurse health coordinator. Residents have the opportunity to participate in the program and provide ongoing trauma informed primary care for the children in their continuity clinic with the support of the team’s care coordination.

Hasbro Children’s Hospital Refugee Health Program is scheduled each month to provide evaluation and screening for Rhode Island’s refugee children. We provide their initial comprehensive evaluation and treatment within 1 month of their arrival in the United States. We welcome families from all over the world, most recently from Burundi, Iraq, Iran, Eritrea, Congo, Liberia, Bhutan, Nepal, and Burma/Myanmar. In addition, we are committed to the ongoing primary care of these children. We strive to create a medical home for the children that is culturally appropriate, patient-centered, collaborative and continuous.

Our families speak over 20 languages such as Kirundi, Krahn, Kunama, Karen, Chin, Tigrinya, Swahili, Arabic, Nepali and others. We partner with the interpreters who provide not only linguistic interpretation, but function as Community Health Workers who educate families as well as the providers who care for these children.  Our other community partners include the International Institute of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Department of Health, St Joseph’s Pediatric Dental Residency Program, Brown University Department of Psychology. These collaborations allow us to provide more comprehensive services to our refugee patients.

Carol Lewis is the Director of the Refugee Health Program. Residents are invited to participate in the refugee clinic with the initial comprehensive evaluations for newly arrived refugee children, subsequent follow up and ongoing primary care in their own continuity clinic. In this way the resident is allowed the opportunity to provide care during the entire resettlement process and provide a medical home to address their unique needs.