Donor-backed LAU Mobile Clinic to Support Disadvantaged Communities
The university’s Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine and LAU Medical Center-Rizk Hospital are teaming up to serve the country’s rural, disadvantaged communities by way of a mobile medical clinic set to launch in spring 2020.
The LAU Mobile Clinic will offer a range of free diagnostic tests to check for non-communicable chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and several cancers, among others. Treatment will also be provided for many of the diseases.
“We look forward to the LAU Mobile Clinic being in full operation so we can begin serving communities in need, with expectations to dispatch the clinic to rural and remote areas approximately one time per month to three times every two months,” explained Dr. Michel Mawad, Dean of the Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine.
The clinic will be housed in a special truck financed through a grant from the Czech Republic. Onboard the truck will be vital equipment and accessories to treat patients, including a blood pressure monitor, ultrasound machine, AED defibrillator, and many others, which are all thanks to a generous gift from Mersaco, a leading healthcare name in distribution and services in Lebanon.
“We are so grateful to you and Mersaco — having accomplished so much, met so many challenges, been incredibly successful, and been so generous to share your success with others,” said LAU President Joseph G. Jabbra at an agreement signing ceremony with Mersaco earlier this month.
Mersaco CEO Walid Mroueh, a friend and continuous donor to the university, explained his motivation to give towards the initiative. “LAU is moving forward very quickly, and is a true source of inspiration for us,” he said.
The LAU Mobile Clinic not only benefits the country’s most disenfranchised individuals, but also the university’s medical residents and interns, who will gain hands-on experience working with refugees and rurally based citizens.
“This new initiative will give medical students and residents from LAU an opportunity to gain a unique and valuable experience, under the supervision of faculty members,” said Dr. Mawad.
Community visits will be coordinated through the Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health, local medical dispensaries, local community stakeholders, including municipalities and non-governmental organizations. For more information about the LAU Mobile Clinic, please click here.