The mission of the Center for Global Initiatives is to create self-sustaining programs that improve access to healthcare in underserved communities throughout the world.
Generally we do this by:
- Serving as an incubator for new initiatives that creatively solve health care inequities throughout the world.
- Acting as a collaborator with individuals and organizations in developing and launching projects that address the needs of medically impoverished populations.
- Functioning as a facilitator in directing public and private resources towards programs aimed at improving health.
- Working as an educator to provide new information and tools for empowering others.
Conceptually, we see the problem we address as healthcare services, sciences, systems, education, and research all suffer from disconnections – globally and locally, biologically and behaviorally, training and practice. Health inequities are global in scale; however it is the philosophy of the Center that the optimal way of successfully addressing these injustices is by multiple, smaller scale projects, with a coordinated focus and outcome accountability.
Until now, there has not been a truly integrated Center that is at once mindful of all the complex aspects of global health inequities while also focused on small, outcomes oriented projects or cases that will be agile, responsive, and empowering in clinical, training, and research domains. It is the mission of the Center to “To change the world, one patient at a time.” We tend to work in places where if we were not operating, there would be no services.
The Most Unique Aspects of the Center
- We serve as a "hothouse" for new projects. We help to nurture, grow, and launch them to be self sustaining.
- After a project has taken hold, we will continue to serve as pro bono consultants as long as we are needed, with whatever is needed—materials, medicines, case consultation, introductions…
- 95% of all of our projects are the result of being invited to do the work. When we are not a good fit; we recommend and link them to a more suitable organization.
- As best we can, depending on the project, we seek to blend primary care, behavioral health and public health into an ultimately self-sustaining, outcomes accountable, culturally consonant result.
