WALTHAM – Dr. Nancy Oriol, associate dean for community engagement at Harvard Medical School, lecturer on global health and social medicine, and associate professor of anesthesia at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, has been honored by the Massachusetts
Medical Society as the recipient of its 2021 Reducing Health Disparities Award, an honor recognizing an individual who has made outstanding contributions to reducing health disparities due to race, socioeconomic status, age, education, or sexual orientation.
In 1992, Dr. Oriol was instrumental in founding The Family Van, a mobile health clinic designed to increase access to health care and improve the health of residents in Boston’s underserved communities. Staffed by community health workers, public health
practitioners, medical students, health educators, counselors and volunteers, the resource provides education, counseling, preventive services as well as referrals to many local health and social service agencies for support with wide ranging issues
such as employment, housing, food, dental care, mental health services, health insurance and more.
More 1,000 volunteers have been trained to support the services offered by The Family Van since 2002 and the program has saved $2.8 million in avoided emergency room costs in the last five years.
Additionally, Dr. Oriol was instrumental in the creation of “Mobile Health Map,” a database of mobile clinics from across the United States, which allows for collaboration and learning.
The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the statewide professional association for physicians and medical students, supporting 25,000 members. We are dedicated to educating and advocating for the physicians of Massachusetts and patients locally and nationally. A leadership voice in health care, the MMS contributes physician and patient perspectives to influence health-related legislation at the state and federal levels, works in support of public health, provides expert advice on physician practice management, and addresses issues of physician well-being. Under the auspices of the NEJM Group, the MMS extends our mission globally by advancing medical knowledge from research to patient care through the New England Journal of Medicine, NEJM Catalyst, and the NEJM Journal Watch family of specialty publications, and through our education products for health care professionals: NEJM Knowledge+, NEJM Resident 360, and our accredited and comprehensive continuing medical education programs.
