Migrant Clinicians Network is non-profit organization dedicated to health justice for the mobile poor and the creation of practical solutions at the intersection of poverty, migration, and health. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas with supporting offices in California, Maryland, Washington, and New York. MCN engages in research, develops tools and resources, and advocates for migrants and underserved populations and the clinicians who serve them. MCN's goal is to improve health care for migrants by providing support, technical assistance, and professional development to clinicians at Federally Qualified Health Centers and other health care delivery sites, in order to assure “quality health care that increases access and reduces disparities.” In 2015, MCN accounted for over 31,000 technical assistance encounters, 267 health center site visits, and 1,260 trained clinicians. MCN is featured as a Top Rated Non-Profit based on user reviews at Great Nonprofits.
Organizational History
MCN was founded in 1984 by three clinicians who recognized that migrant clinicians required higher levels of support and resources directly related to the care of migrant patients. MCN now serves over 10,000 constituents, with a clinical Board of Directors, External Advisory Board, Institutional Review Board, and a staff of 25.
Programs
Health Network
Health Network is MCN's bridge case management and patient navigation system for mobile patients. Health Network works to provide continuity of care and treatment completion for mobile patients suffering from chronic or infectious diseases by providing case management, medical record transfer, and follow-up services. Health Network has served thousands of mobile patients moving within the United States or between the United States and 111 other countries since it began in 1995. Health care providers from health centers, health departments, and other health care delivery sites enroll patients who plan to move but will need follow-up at their next location for any ongoing health condition like tuberculosis, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, cancer, or pregnancy. Health Network associates contact the patient and then link that patient to a new health care delivery site at their next location. Health Network associates also assure the patient's medical records are forwarded to the new location and that other barriers like lack of transportation are also addressed so that the patient can continue or complete treatment. While Health Network initially centered on specific health conditions—including its TBNet program focused on patients with tuberculosis—it now enrolls patients on the move with any health condition. In 2016, Migrant Clinicians Network received the 24th annual Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award, which includes a $100,000 cash prize, for providing comprehensive case management, medical records transfer, and follow-up services through its Health Network. On World TB Day in 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared Health Network a U.S. TB Elimination Champion for its work in supporting TB control. In 2010, Health Network received the Border Models of Excellence in Tuberculosis Surveillance and Control award from the U.S.- Mexico Border Health Commission.
Environmental and Occupational Health
MCN spearheads a number of projects aimed at addressing environmental and work-related health conditions. MCN's Workers and Environmental Health program gives primary care clinicians training, tools, and resources to better recognize, manage, and prevent environmental and occupational health injuries, illnesses, and exposures in farmworkers, like pesticide exposure. Seguridad en las Lecherías: Immigrant Dairy Worker Health and Safety is an award-winning research project in collaboration with the NIOSH-funded and the National Farm Medicine Center that tested the community health worker model and includes a bilingual health and safety train-the-trainer curriculum for immigrant dairy workers. Another program, Worker Safety and Health in Community Health Centers, provides trainings, tools, and resources in collaboration with health centers to workers in agriculture, janitorial services, and nail salons in Vietnamese and English, with topics including heat stress, chemical safety, work-related asthma, and hazard communication. The Protecting Children While Parents Work project, a collaboration between MCN and the National Children's Center for Rural Agricultural Health and Safety, works with farmworkers, farmers, agricultural industry leaders, local health centers, and other stakeholders to develop safe child care for children while parents are in the fields. Senior MCN staff members are regularly consulted as experts in the field of farmworkers and occupational health.
Technical Assistance
MCN provides ongoing technical assistance to clinicians working with mobile patients. MCN uses the expertise of its staff members, its advisory boards and other professional migrant health expert colleagues, and an extensive library of technical assistance material to address clinicians’ concerns as they arise.
Family Violence Prevention
MCN's Hombres Unidos Contra La Violencia Familiar engages Latino migrant men in a group setting facilitated by their peers to learn about sexual and intimate partner violence prevention. They define healthy relationships by acknowledging and addressing knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs about intimate partnerships. Hombres Unidos received the 2013 Roth Award as an innovative project that specifically addresses the needs of underserved populations.
Publication
MCN's quarterly clinical publication, Streamline, provides articles, information, and resources to frontline clinicians working with mobile underserved populations. MCN's senior staff contributes to the national conversation about migration health through regular publication in peer-reviewed journals. MCN regularly publishes op-eds and other articles to promote national dialogue on the needs of mobile and underserved populations. Recent op-eds written by MCN staff include pieces on tuberculosis, pesticides, health care access for immigrants, and occupational health for migrant workers.
