The 2017 Anne M. Davis Mobile Health Award

VNA Foundation presented its 2017 Anne M. Davis Mobile Health Award, along with a $10,000 gift, to Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science’s Scholl Podiatric Care for the Underserved Program. The program offers free foot care to medically underserved individuals in the Chicago-metropolitan area, and for the past 30 years has provided services ranging from nail care to wound treatment, helping nearly 60,000 patients improve their mobility, health status and quality of life.

The program initially launched with just four podiatry students visiting the west side of Chicago once per week. Today, with its dual aims to provide service and train future leaders in podiatric medicine, the program serves 2,000 patients annually at nine sites across Cook and Lake Counties. Patients receive free exams and treatment, recommendations for preventive care, and referrals for follow-up care. The program is directed by Philip J. Gianfortune, DPM, Senior Director of Educational Support and Programming at Rosalind Franklin University’s Dr. William
M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine. When asked about the program and the experiences it provides to its students, Dr. Gianfortune expressed, “I know the students are going to get a lot of experience and the patients are always very grateful. My students really love it!”

VNA’s Anne M. Davis Mobile Health Award recognizes a grantee partner that uses mobile health services in a particularly innovative, impactful, and effective way, and was named in honor of a longstanding VNA volunteer and board member. “The Scholl Podiatric Care for the Underserved Program offers specialized, hard to access services to a particularly vulnerable population,” said Robert N. DiLeonardi, Executive Director for the VNA Foundation. “VNA’s board and staff members are delighted to recognize the program and the efforts of its volunteer students and faculty with this year’s Anne M. Davis Mobile Health Award.”