Initial health screenings for Refugees and other newcomers.

More than 20,000 refugees live in the greater Cleveland area. NFP began serving refugees in 2010 in response to this community’s need for health screenings and ongoing primary care. NFP now provides health screenings for more than 95% of new arrivals in Cuyahoga County and is one of five refugee health screening sites in Ohio.

NFP is the primary healthcare provider for the three refugee resettlement agencies in greater Cleveland and we work with each agency daily to provide newly arriving refugees their two health screens at NFP’s Ridge Community Health Center. The team is led by a refugee clinic coordinator and consists of medical providers, a nurse coordinator, medical assistants and a patient advocate. At the screening, refugee patients receive a health history, physical exam, blood work, vaccinations, a visual screening, hearing test and mental health screening. Follow-up appointments can be scheduled with NFP’s medical and behavioral health providers.

Refugees require more comprehensive care coordination compared to other patients. NFP refers refugees to specialists and helps coordinate transportation to and from appointments. NFP has Arabic- and Nepali-speaking staff members and uses live interpreters as well as an interpreting phone service to communicate with refugees in their native language.

Refugee Health Services has provided health screenings to more than 4,000 patients…

representing three continents and 18+ countries in the past six years. After their initial screenings, 85% of refugees continue to use NFP as their primary care provider, making up almost 20% of NFP’s patient population. In a recent survey, 100% of refugees would recommend their NFP doctor to others in the community and 81% of refugees stated their health has improved since seeing a doctor at NFP.

Refugees face many barriers when they arrive in the United States: language, employment, and knowledge and understanding of American systems and cultural norms. In order to better serve the rising numbers of refugees resettling in Northeast Ohio, NFP partners with the Refugee Services Collaborative of Greater Cleveland.

Click here to read an article about a “recent study by Chmura Economics & Analytics, which challenges stereotypes and may illuminate a new economic development strategy. Far from burdening a community, refugees tend to assimilate quickly, find work, buy houses and often start businesses.”

Neighborhood Family Practice also offers I-693 Civil Surgeon Exam Services.