Founded by alumni of the federal National Health Service Corps, the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU) is committed to educating, encouraging, and enabling healthcare providers of all backgrounds to practice in underserved communities across the country. The organization engages providers early in their clinical careers, helping to place them in safety net organizations that then provide guidance and experience, while simultaneously serving those communities in need.
ACU is using its 2017 AmeriCorps State and National Evidence-based Intervention Planning grant to create an AmeriCorps program where members will be trained as patient “connectors” to provide patient-centered interventions such as case management assistance with coverage enrollment, accessing primary care services, and awareness/effective utilization of health care resources across the respective individual’s continuum of care. The program will help further expand ACU’s work training and engaging motivated people to learn about these critical safety net organizations, thus driving more workers and clinicians to serve in Health Professional Shortage Areas.
ACU plans to use pre- and post-service surveys at its initial service sites to collect member data, along with other methods of tracking participation throughout the service period. While the start of the program will be limited in scope, once ACU evaluates the program, it can then look toward using the program as the foundation for growth and future opportunities with a wider range of partners.
Additional Resources: