By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com
Washington, D.C. residents in Wards 5, 6, 7 and 8 under the age of 21 will continue to have access to free and accessible health care via a new partnership between MedStar Health and Monumental Sports and Entertainment (MSE). Aimed at serving the children and adolescents of the District, the Kids Mobile Medical Clinic will continue to serve the community for at least the next five years through the financial backing of MSE founder and billionaire Ted Leonsis.
Credit: Courtesy Photo/Mekhi Abbott
The Kids Mobile Medical Clinic has been a mainstay in Southeast D.C. since 1992, serving approximately 800 patients a year and providing more than 1,600 screenings of social determinants that disproportionately affect Black and inner-city children such as food insecurity, income, education, community safety and more.
“The Mobile Clinic has been a part of my family for about 20 years,” said Markia Gilbert, a D.C. native. “They’re there when you need them, they’re on call, they even call to check in. They get you seen, they get you fixed up. They were there when I delivered my baby!”
Regardless of insurance coverage, families are never charged and children are always seen at the Kids Mobile Medical Clinic. The clinic provides services that range from sick visits, well visits, immunizations, mental health screenings, vision and hearing screenings and even specialist referrals.
“They helped me when I got hurt and they checked in on me to make sure that I was OK and healthy,” said Markia’s son, Michael Gilbert.
The pediatric health center on wheels has two units – a medical unit and a wellbeing unit. The wellbeing unit focuses on addressing complex social and mental health risk factors and how they impact young children and their families. The redesigned units will include the logos of the Washington Wizards, Mystics, Capitals and the Capital City Go-Go due to the new partnership with Leonsis, who is the owner of the aforementioned franchises.
“It goes beyond me being a father myself. I grew up as a really, really poor kid in Brooklyn, New York. I didn’t go to doctors often,” said Leonsis. “This program takes pediatricians and nurses, alongside a lot of technology, and brings it into the neighborhoods. You don’t have to be insured. If your kid is sick or you want a preventative checkup, come in and get scheduled. We’re doing it four days a week and the other three we’re parked at a permanent location. We’ve been doing it for over 20 years and we just made it another five.”
With Leonsis’ $1.1 million donation, the clinic will continue its typical four-day-per-week schedule. The clinic treats patients on site outside of public housing communities in Southeast D.C. on a rolling basis.
Since 2019, Leonsis and Monumental have donated more than $6 million to health care initiatives and projects with MedStar Health.
“ is very beneficial. Checkups, they’re on point. Asthma, they’re on point. They’re on point with everything we need from them. There’s never any hesitation on their behalf and that’s amazing,” said Gilbert.
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