Dr. Randy Christensen '89

Randal Charles Christensen, MD, MPH
Founder Randal Christensen Consulting, LLC

After graduating in 1990 from the University of Arizona with a BA in Sociology, Randal Christensen earned both his MD and his MPH degrees from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1995. He then began a four year combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics program in Phoenix, Arizona.

Upon graduating from his residency program, Dr. Christensen began working at Phoenix Children’s Hospital as the Medical Director of the Crews’n Healthmobile. His role at the hospital expanded to include the Division Chief of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, as well as the President of the Medical Staff. In 2016 he left Arizona to become the Chief Medical Officer for the largest Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Nevada. In that capacity he was able to provide the leadership to grow the organization both in size and breadth, including building two family practice residency continuity clinics as well as telehealth services, which connect doctors to patients though they may be hundreds of miles apart.

This variety of experience is the perfect foundation for someone whose life and work is dedicated to improving the health of the community, whether that takes the form of direct care, teaching the next generation of physicians or leading the medical providers.

Education has always been a priority for Dr. Christensen. His involvement has included educating medical students, nursing students, and residents as well as young physicians and advanced practice providers. Peer and community education is also quite important for Dr. Christensen and he has been asked to speak to communities, the media and at CME conferences on topics such as adolescent health Care, homeless health care, wilderness medicine topics, disaster planning, healthcare policy, leadership topics, violence in the media and human trafficking.

Evident throughout his career is Dr. Christensen’s strong desire to care for those patients that do not have a voice. These underserved populations are the driving force behind all his aforementioned activities, as well as, his yearly trips to Washington, D.C. to advocate on their behalf. One of the most important and achievements to date was his building of the Crews’n Healthmobile. The program started in 2000 and today includes several mobile medical units and fixed clinic locations serving homeless children and adolescents in Phoenix and the surrounding communities by providing comprehensive medical and social services via a mobile medical center essentially a mobile doctor’s office on wheels.

To this day this team reaches out to thousands living in poverty on the streets of Arizona.

The team has also recently started a resiliency clinic to provide medical care and services for abuse and human trafficking victims. Caring for the underserved now in a holistic manner benefits taxpayers, hospitals, emergency rooms, the public health and most importantly the patient.

In the summer of 2018, Dr. Christensen helped Nevada Health Centers bring a new mobile unit to Las Vegas similar to the Arizona Project. This mobile unit will provide desperately needed services to underserved populations in Las Vegas. The unit will be staffed with providers trained to deal with trauma and will provide comprehensive health services to youth and adolescents facing such issues as homelessness, violence, abuse, and trafficking.

Dr. Christensen has been honored with numerous awards including Health Care Hero in 2006 sponsored by the Phoenix Business Journal, CNN’s Medical Marvel in 2007, People Magazine’s Heroes Among Us in 2008, and the Dr. Richard Carmona National Doorway of Hope Award in 2008. He is also the author of the book, “Ask Me Why I Hurt: The Kids Nobody Wants and the Doctor Who Heals Them. Currently Dr. Christensen is using his skill sets to help other organizations evaluate and implement innovative, impactful and sustainable community programs through his consulting firm, Randal Christensen Consulting.