Health Care to Go

Photograph by Oscar H. Izquierdo

For 25 years, Ronald McDonald Houses from Philadelphia to New Zealand have provided a home base for families of seriously ill children undergoing treatment at nearby hospitals — with the 200th Ronald McDonald House scheduled to open in Budapest later this summer.

But in the Chicago area, Ronald McDonald House Charities is supporting a different concept of health hospitality.

The charity recently awarded a $10-million grant to Ronald McDonald Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center, in Maywood, Ill., to operate a mobile clinic that provides health care to poor kids in neighborhoods near the hospital.

The mobile clinic, which also receives support from the Children’s Care Foundation of Chicago, has already served more than 1,000 children since it made its debut last October.

The 40-foot-long, $210,000 clinic vehicle features two patient-examination rooms, a laboratory, an area to store medical records, and a booth for hearing tests. The clinic makes stops at schools, churches, parks, and municipal buildings, among other places. Kids receive routine physical exams, immunizations, hearing and vision tests, and asthma treatment. Pregnant girls can receive prenatal care.

Here, two young patients “examine” a doctor during a visit at the clinic.