FIU to open campus health practice for faculty and staff

Starting July 27, FIU College of Medicine Health Care Network will provide primary care services Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., in the University Health Services Complex at Modesto A. Maidique Campus.

By Sissi Aguila

Faculty and staff will soon be able to see a physician without leaving Modesto A. Maidique Campus.

The FIU Health Care Network (HCN), a group practice of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine clinical faculty, will provide FIU faculty and staff with convenient, cost-effective primary care, preventive care and management of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.

“The College of Medicine’s HealthCare Network is pleased to initiate professional medical services on-campus for full-time FIU faculty and staff.  We are starting small with the plan for expanded services in the very near future,” said Dean John Rock.

The on-campus practice opens July 27 in the University Health Services Complex, room 154.

The doctor is in

David R. Brown, M.D. who teaches in the department of Humanities, Health and Society at the College of Medicine, will be the primary care provider for the clinic. Board certified in family practice, Brown has practiced family medicine for more than 15 years. He has extensive experience in prevention, screening, family planning, acute care, and chronic disease care.

“I am looking forward to being part of this initiative in offering health care services to the FIU community”, said Brown.

A recipient of the Saint John Community Development Corporation Medical Excellence award in 2008, he is co-founder and co-director of the Historic Overtown Public Health Empowerment (HOPE) Collaborative and a member of the Consortium for a Healthier Miami-Dade County.

In 2005, Brown joined forces with Booker T. Washington Senior High School students and teachers to create the “Overtown Cookbook,” a collection of healthy recipes based on ethnic favorites. These meals are often prepared in unhealthy ways in the African-American community, but Brown and a group of student residents at the Jefferson Reaves Sr. Health Clinic developed a nutritional diet that could be used in the community without losing the cultural food tradition and identity.

Prior to his position at FIU, Brown practiced and taught at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and in the Jackson Health Care System.

The plan

In addition to the services offered by Brown and clinical support staff, the College’s clinical faculty members who have community practices in Miami-Dade County are available to faculty and staff as an option for specialty medical services at their office locations within the community.

All FIU health insurance plans will be accepted. The $15 office visit co-payment will be waived for employees in the HMO and PPO plans when services are provided at the FIU on-campus practice. Benefits or services not covered by FIU plans will be charged according to an established fee schedule.

The FIU College of Medicine’s HealthCare Network  plans to expand professional medical services in the future to include dependents of faculty and staff who have health insurance coverage through FIU plans.

For more information or to make an appointment, call 305-348-DOCS (3627). Appointments are recommended to reduce wait time; however, walk-ins will be accepted.