Thousands of youth live on the streets of Phoenix, many in need of medical treatment. They are at an increased risk of illness and injury due to the hardships they face. Most lack health insurance and don't have access to appropriate healthcare. Launched in 2000, the Crews'n Healthmobile — a 38-foot Mobile Medical Unit — brings free, comprehensive care directly to these populations. This mobile medical unit visits drop-in centers serving the homeless, streets where homeless youth gather, shelters and schools that serve vulnerable populations. The Crews'n Healthmobile provides care to youth via 30 half-day clinics each week, from Glendale to Mesa and everywhere in between.
Since 2000, the Phoenix Children's Hospital Breathmobile, a self-contained mobile asthma clinic, has traveled to inner-city schools, providing asthma diagnoses, treatment and education. The Breathmobile visits schools in South Phoenix — areas where children are most likely to be uninsured. The service requires no referral and there is no charge for treatment.
Outside of Phoenix Children's, pediatric patients with HIV/AIDS have no other treatment options in Arizona. The Bill Holt Clinic at Phoenix Children's is the only comprehensive pediatric HIV clinic in the state of Arizona, providing care for children and adolescents exposed to or infected with HIV. The clinic, founded in 1994, includes a team of specialists who work together at each patient visit to provide specialized medical care, nutritional support, Child Life services and psychosocial support. The team closely involves families and loved ones to maximize the health of children and adolescents affected by, or infected with, HIV.
Community Health Needs Assessment
Phoenix Children’s serves the Southwest region as an essential provider of pediatric specialty care, but its primary service area is Maricopa County, which accounts for 80% of our inpatient discharges. In order to best serve this community, Phoenix Children’s partnered with Synapse partners, the Health Improvement Partnership of Maricopa County (HIPMC) and the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) to assess the health needs of Maricopa County residents. Internal committees and workgroups of Phoenix Children’s community stakeholders contributed to the prioritization process.
The purpose of this Community Health Needs Assessment report is to identify and prioritize significant health needs of the community served by Phoenix Children’s. The priorities identified in this report help to guide the organization’s community health improvement programs and community benefit activities as well as its collaborative efforts with other organizations that share a mission to improve the health of children.
The 2022 - 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment report is a customized version of the coordinated community health needs assessment that MCDPH conducted in partnership with Banner Health, Dignity Health, Mayo Clinic, Native Health, Neighborhood Outreach Access to Health, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Valleywise Health and Vitalyst Health Foundation. The 2022 – 2025 report (link below) was adopted on October 27, 2022.