Care across cultures: Penn Medicine African Health Clinic

"Bonne nuit, monsieur," says Dianne Uwayo, as she bade farewell to a patient leaving a clinic in West Philadelphia. "Bonne nuit," he replied. Uwayo, who grew up in the American South but who is of African descent, is multilingual. On any given Monday night like, this warm April evening, at Penn Medicine's United Community Clinic (UCC) at the African Family Health Organization, a visitor might hear one of 16 other languages, not counting French or English.

For the last two years, Michael Beers, the Robert L. Mayock and David A. Cooper Professor in Pulmonary Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, has helped to lead a Penn Medicine partnership with the African Family Health Organization (AFAHO), to offer weekly family-medicine/primary care clinics for recent immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean.

Uwayo, the Health Programs Manager at AFAHO, AFAHO colleagues, Beers, clinical colleagues and Penn medical fellows, residents, and students take over the AFAHO office on 54th Street, bringing services to a population with many still acclimating to the city and country. The clinic operates on opposite weeks to a similar clinic in the basement of the New River Presbyterian Church, a few blocks from West Philly's Clark Park, also run by the same Penn Medicine UCC team. UCC runs thanks to grants, the backing of community organizations and Penn, and volunteers.

"Meeting patients where they are helps us quickly build trust with a population who many take advantage of," says Beers. "Some are refugees, others are just immigrants here for the opportunity to work and start a new life. Some don't trust big institutions or medical professionals, or are intimidated by big hospitals."

Over the last year, UCC has treated a total of 158 patients at New River and AFAHO. Patients at New River are largely more longtime residents who are uninsured or underinsured, while those on AFAHO nights are new immigrants. AFAHO patients also are more frequently followed by clinicians at UCC as they put down roots, while patients who access UCC through New River are more often seeking short-term care whether for employment physicals and health screenings or while they are without insurance.

Read more at Penn Medicine News.