Keys AHEC and Keys Kids Health Centers announced a new partnership with Mount Sinai Medical Center designed to help sustain access to essential medical care for children throughout the Florida Keys.
Through the partnership, Mount Sinai is supporting Keys AHEC’s efforts to retain the clinicians who provide care through Keys Kids Health Centers’ network of school-based clinics. In a county where recruiting and keeping medical professionals is a persistent challenge, a stable clinical workforce means children across Monroe County can keep getting care close to where they live and learn.
Keys Kids Health Centers provides medical and dental care to children throughout the Florida Keys through school-based clinics, removing transportation and other barriers that keep families from care. The clinics see children regardless of a family’s ability to pay, whether they have private insurance, Medicaid, or no insurance at all.
“Having qualified medical professionals in our clinics is essential to keeping children healthy and keeping care accessible for families throughout the Keys,” said Michael Cunningham, president and CEO of Keys AHEC. “We are incredibly grateful to Mount Sinai Medical Center for recognizing the importance of this work and partnering with us to help keep our clinics staffed and available to the children who depend on them.”
The partnership builds on Mount Sinai’s presence in the Florida Keys, where it has cared for residents and visitors for more than four decades. Mount Sinai operates five locations in Monroe County, four in Key West and one in Marathon.
“Our priority in the Keys is investing in this community, not competing with it,” said Gino R. Santorio, President and CEO of Mount Sinai Medical Center. “Keys AHEC has kept these clinics open for more than three decades, and our role is to strengthen care that already works. For a lot of families here, the clinic down the hall at school is the most reliable place their child can be seen. We want to make sure that door stays open.”