This episode originally aired on Aug. 20, 2024.
When Dr. Nadine "Deanie" Singh arrived in the United States from Jamaica with her young child in the mid 1990s she didn't even have a high school diploma, but a chance encounter at a mall led to her getting her GED, and that put her on the path to becoming a nurse.
She first got her associates degree from Broward College and started as a certified nursing assistant in Fort Lauderdale, then obtained her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Edison State College (which is now called Florida SouthWestern State College), and then a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice (DNP) from South University.
She worked as a critical care nurse at Gulf Coast ICU for about eight years, but had an experience in that role that reminded her of a paper she’d written while getting her master’s degree on running a mobile clinic, and that’s when she began the process of starting Premier Mobile Health Services.
Dr. Singh founded Premier in 2018 as a mobile clinic operating out of an RV she bought with her own money on eBay. They serve uninsured and underinsured children, families and individuals at multiple locations across Lee County, as well as at a walk-in, bricks-and-mortar clinic in Fort Myers.
Their stops currently include places like the Pine Manor Community Center, the Gladiolus Food Pantry, and the Fort Myers Middle Academy, as well as Café of Life in Bonita Springs. Click here to see their current scheduled stops.
Their services include, but aren’t limited to, early-detection health screenings, blood pressure and diabetes checks, basic metabolic profiles, nutrition counseling, basic vaccinations, acute and chronic disease management, and school and sports physicals for children. Click here to see a full breakdown of the services they provide.
Dr. Singh recently traveled to Boston to attend an executive education course for nonprofits at the Harvard Business School — which was supported by a scholarship from the Harvard Club of Naples — so we brought her into the studio to talk about her path that led to founding Premier Mobile Health Services, the work they do, and what she took away from her trip to Boston.
Click here to learn about their upcoming fundraiser, and here to volunteer.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.