Salve rolls out new health and wellness community outreach program
Students will provide on-site health care education across Rhode Island via a new, fully equipped mobile unit.
Rhode Islanders will soon start to see a 40-foot Salve Regina University-branded vehicle motoring around the Ocean State. It’s the heart of Salve’s new health and wellness community outreach program, and it launched Sept. 22.
That day, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and Newport Mayor Charlie Holder joined us to cut the ribbon on this new program, which is focused on educating a rising generation of health care and mental health professionals by serving communities in need. In partnership with health care and community organizations, Salve students will provide on-site health care and preventive screening education, aiding in the effort to decrease health care access disparities across the state.
The program is the brainchild of Dr. Debra Cherubini, associate professor of nursing and director of the RN-BSN program, who is now also director of the new program. Reed played a key role in getting the project off the ground by delivering a $1.95 million federal earmark from the Health Resources and Services Administration that enabled Salve to purchase and equip the mobile unit, purchase new simulation technology for Salve Regina’s nursing labs that supports the program and cover several years of the mobile unit’s operational costs.
The mobile unit is equipped with two private counseling rooms and one exam room that includes health and wellness education models and materials. The unit is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. When it is out on its missions, the vehicle will be staffed by students and faculty from Salve’s nursing, social work and other health science degree programs, as well as the Salve Compass program, with drivers from Salve’s Office of Public Safety.
“Rhode Island needs more health care professionals and Salve Regina is stepping up to help train and prepare the next generation of nurses, social workers, mental health professionals and others with hands-on experience serving Rhode Islanders in need, right in their communities,” said Reed.
One of those future health care professionals is nursing student Taylor Barnaby ’26, currently an intern in the pediatric emergency department at Hasbro Children’s hospital in Providence. “As a nursing major and a senior, I’ve been learning since day one that the first step in caring for people is prevention. We do this by educating people about the importance of screenings, the signs of chronic conditions and how to take precautions,” she said.
“With this mobile classroom, we will have the opportunity to do more than present to our fellow students and instructors. We will work directly with members of the community, hear their questions and see what works and what doesn’t, so we can learn while we teach,” Barnaby explained.
Cherubini is working with Holder and local hospitals and community organizations across R.I. to plan the outreach locations for the mobile unit, which is scheduled to take to the streets this fall. For more information or to inquire about becoming a partner in the program, please contact Cherubini at debra.cherubini@Salve.edu.
