The medical community has been circling the wagons for months now to combat COIVD-19. From contact tracing, social distancing and drones, to teleheath and myriad applications, the initiatives are many and efforts from technology firms are coming to the fore for marginalized communities in the coronavirus fight.
The Shared Harvest Foundation, Shared Harvest Fund social enterprise technology and Emerge Telemedicine announced the launch of MyCovidMD. Powered by My Own Doctor platform, MyCovidMD aims to support marginalized communities with free telehealth services, community-based testing and matches residents with “Crisis Buddies” during the coronavirus pandemic.
“When America gets a cold, uninsured people and communities of color get pneumonia, and given that black and brown communities have a higher than average number of uninsured, many communities are hit extra hard with Covid-19,” notes Founder and CEO, Nana Afoh-Manin, M.D. “I am an ER doctor and disaster medicine specialist caring for patients on the frontline while addressing the surge capacity in the ED. It didn’t take me long to realize that our health system would be tested and overwhelmed and that we needed a more unified community response.”
MyCovidMD comes at a critical time, as its impact to local healthcare could prove quite beneficial. Hospitals and patients are safer while those in need of screening do so, and at the same time see a reduced volume of patients overwhelming hospitals and healthcare provider burnout.
“I am in awe of Dr. Nana and her entire team, and truly honored that we can partner with them to provide Blackbird Culver City as the first and now flagship popup site. The mission of providing access to our underinsured and marginalized is completely aligned with our values,” explained Bridgid Coulter, Founder & CEO of Blackbird Collective PBC.
COVID-19 is causing global chaos, but it can be easy to see this is a local, community issue and unfortunately the proper precautions, appropriate level of care and resources are simply not available or easily accessible. MyCovidMD is here to help.
