BayCare Kids’ Mobile Medical Clinic Celebrates 20 Years

In a response to a national push to increase immunization rates for children, St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital started its Mobile Medical Clinic (MMC) program in 2004. The bus traveled to underserved areas in Hillsborough County with a registered nurse, a nurse practitioner and a program coordinator on board. During that first summer, the team provided vaccinations to 34 patients.  

Twenty years later, the 40-foot clinic-on-wheels now serves more than 2,000 children each year and has a staff of 15, including pediatric graduate medical school residents who rotate time on the bus, three nurse practitioners, a social support specialist, a care coordinator and a childhood development specialist.    
 
“Since day one, our mission has remained the same – to reduce barriers like access to care and cost for some of Tampa Bay’s most vulnerable families,” said BayCare Kids MMC Manager Stefanie Alt. “In addition to greatly raising vaccine rates, we’ve been able to increase the services offered on the bus over the years.” 
 
Children who can be treated on the bus must be 18 years old or younger and either have no health insurance, be enrolled in Medicaid, or be Native American or Alaskan Native. Along with immunizations, the MMC offers well-child exams and school physicals, hearing, vision and developmental screenings, and health and safety information. Sick care is also provided at select partner locations. All services are provided at no cost.   

Jeannette Burgos, BayCare Kids MMC outreach coordinator, noted that for some families in underserved areas, the MCC is their first experience with health care in Florida or the United States.  
 
“We strive to provide support for the whole family, not just the pediatric patient,” Burgos said. “Our team offers to help with health insurance application assistance, medical care coordination and connecting families to other community resources when needed.”   

Those experiencing food insecurity are referred to Feeding Tampa Bay, and the MMC team uses the Find Help Florida software platform to locate additional resources for families with housing or other immediate needs.  
 
Burgos adds that if a medical condition is discovered during an exam, the MMC team can help coordinate additional care.  
 
“Sometimes, our clinicians discover a child needs eyeglasses, hearing aids or maybe they suspect the patient has diabetes, a cardiac condition or another medical diagnosis,” Burgos said. “Our patient care coordinator can assist with the next steps, including finding specialists and directing families to organizations such as the Family Health Care Foundation or BayCare Financial Assistance.” 

The MMC serves as yet another way BayCare cares for its communities beyond hospital walls and doctors’ offices. As Tampa Bay’s largest provider of children’s health services, BayCare Kids and St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital are home to a medical team of more than 200 physicians with close to 100 pediatric specialists, representing nearly all major subspecialties. 

BayCare Kids encompasses all pediatric services provided by BayCare, including the flagship hospital St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital and specialized pediatric emergency centers at St. Joseph’s Hospital–South in Riverview and Mease Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor. St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital is well known throughout the southeast United States as a leader in pediatric heart and cancer care and is home to the Steinbrenner Emergency/Trauma Center for Children, staffed exclusively by board-certified pediatric emergency physicians, and the Daniel J. Plasencia, MD Children’s Chronic Complex Clinic, recognized nationally for its care of medically fragile children.  

Together, BayCare Kids and St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital are committed to serving the community’s health needs, which includes ensuring continued access to care for the growing West Central Florida region. In 2023, BayCare provided $557 million in benefit to the local communities it serves in the form of uncompensated medical care and unbilled community services. 

The MMC travels to many areas of Hillsborough County each month, including all seven of the Children’s Board Family Resource Centers, Metropolitan Ministries Family Support Center, and Catholic Charities’ San José Mission and La Esperanza Clinic.  

Find more information on the BayCare Kids Mobile Medical Clinic and its schedule here.