This year, the Partners for Health Access Excellence collaborative has been selected as one of six finalist from around the nation for the Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award.

The Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award is given each year to community agencies and health organizations that support people excluded from, or underserved by, the mainstream health delivery system and individuals who don’t have the strength or means to reach a clinic or hospital. The Partners for Health Access Excellence is a collaborative formed by St. Luke’s Episcopal Mobile Medical Ministry and the Martin Luther King Health Center & Pharmacy. It combines the reach of St. Luke’s Mobile Medical Ministry van with the resources of the Martin Luther King Health Center & Pharmacy to create a patient “Health Home” that includes specialty care, pharmaceuticals, point of care testing, social services, and health and wellness education that is sensitive to the needs of patients and families that are often outside of the mainstream health care delivery system.

“Because they may not seek or be able to obtain care until their illness is advanced, chronic conditions are often exacerbated due to delayed, fragmented or interrupted treatment, leading to expensive and unnecessary ER visits and hospitalizationsm,” Betty Johnson, St. Luke’s Episcopal Mobile Medical Ministry executive director, said.

“PHAE is unique in our community and in the free health clinic model in that it not only breaks the barriers to care, but also breaks the traditional competitive barriers that often inhibit organizations from forming genuine collaborative programs,” Janet Mentesane, executive director for the Martin Luther King Health Center, said.

The winner of the award will be announced Feb. 24 during a ceremony in Scottsdale, Ariz.