Western NC Community Health Services Expands Access to Care

Western North Carolina Community Health Services is providing greater access to care to an additional 10,000 patients as it contracts with Buncombe County Health Center.

The county announced Nov. 17 that it had reached a formal agreement with Western North Carolina Community Health Services to provide basic access to health care for about 10,000 patients now served by the Buncombe County Health Center. Contracting with Community Health Services will give an additional 5,000 people access to the local health-care "safety net" for the same amount of the money the county's spending now, officials say.

That's because, as a federally qualified health clinic, the nonprofit gets significantly higher Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements than the county Health Department. In a March report to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, Department of Social Services Director Mandy Stone said it would cost the county $6 million a year to serve its current patient load plus another 5,000 needy patients, whereas Community Health Services could do it for $3 million.

Caswell Family Medical Center Will Expand Facilities & Services

Caswell Family Medical Center was awarded funds from the Danville Regional Foundation Grant to support upgraded facilities and expanded services, especially for specialty care.

The 4,000-square-foot expansion on the west side of the building will offer nine more exam rooms, an enlarged trauma room, a procedure room and more office space, Deal said.

“With this expansion project, we’re hoping to really give better access to care,” Deal said. “Our goal here is prevention and to have good outcomes for our patients.”

Blue Ridge Participates in Breast Cancer Awareness

Blue Ridge Community Health Services participates in Breast Cancer Awareness Month and finds unique ways to educate women, especially those over the age of 40:

In order to raise awareness about the importance of routine breast cancer screenings, the staff of Blue Ridge Community Health Services (BRCHS) dressed in pink on October 13. Staff from all of BR’s facilities, family practice, pediatrics, dental clinic and school health participated in the special campaign. Medical providers and clinical staff wore pink shirts, scrubs, finger nails, and even pink hair. It worked! When people saw Blue Ridge’s pink staff and asked, it provided an opportunity to remind them that the women in their life should have routine screenings.

“We know that age and gender are the most predictive risk factors for breast cancer. If all women started getting mammograms at age 40, breast cancer death rates would drop up to 30 percent,” says Dr. Shannon Dowler, BRCHS Medical Director. “The key to mammography screening is that it be done routinely – once is not enough. Remind the women in your life how much they mean to you and the importance of regular health screenings – it might just save a life.”

Piedmont Health Services Hires New COO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Carrboro, NC – Piedmont Health Services, Inc. is pleased to announce that Jill Ridky, Ph.D., has joined their staff as Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Dr. Ridky received her Graduate and Doctoral Degrees at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and holds adjunct appointments. She has served on national boards, as a consultant and in administrative roles with academic medical centers and nonprofit/public sector organizations.

Brian Toomey, CEO, states, “PHS is very proud to have Jill join our staff. The COO position is brand new and will play an important role in PHS’s future. I’m confident that Jill will lead us in the direction that will be beneficial in helping to meet our mission of providing health services to anyone in our community that needs them.”

Piedmont Health Services, Inc. operates 6 community health centers in 4 adjoining counties (Orange, Alamance, Caswell and Chatham).
They are: Carrboro Community Health Center, Prospect Hill CHC, Siler City CHC, Moncure CHC, Charles Drew (Burlington) CHC and Scott (Burlington) CHC. Medical services, Pharmacy services and Dental services are provided to anyone in our communities.

PHS accepts most private insurances as well as Medicare and Medicaid. Anyone without insurance will be charged on a sliding fee scale based on proof of their household income.

######

Piedmont Health Services Shows Success with Local Health Care Program

Piedmont Health Services has another success story about the program they implemented to provide affordable health care to small businesses.

"It's the middle class that's challenged to figure out how to afford [health care]," he said. "And we're trying to figure out how to come up with something that's the right care for the right price. So that's why I think this is worth it."

Nelson echoed that view: "Our number one commitment as an organization is to bring value to members... And this is an example of us delivering on that commitment."

With initial success, Toomey and Nelson can now look to what is next for the program. Toomey stressed the need to "continue to listen to what people like and don't like about us." He cited the recent opening of a Friday dermatology clinic as an example of the kind of improvement that can result from listening to patients' needs.

But Toomey is positive about the health center's ability to expand its capacity to serve small businesses. The center is adding exam rooms and making other improvements with money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Toomey has also met with the Roxboro Area and Caswell County chambers of commerce and discussed participating in the Small Business Health Service.

In the futures, Nelson and Toomey see more employer involvement.

Robeson Health Care Corporation's Clinical Counselor Recognized

Robeson Health Care Corporation's clinical counselor, April Locklear, is recognized for her work and accomplishments at the health center and in her personal life.

As a counselor, Locklear works with women and their children offering outpatient and residential services. She also counsels women who have transitioned into the residential program from the states’ first maternal perinatal treatment center, Our House, located in Pembroke, N.C.

OIC Family Medical Serves the Uninsured in Rocky Mount, NC

OIC Family Medical Center serves as one of the few primary care providers in the Rocky Mount, NC area willing to see uninsured patients, in spite of other constraints that they face in this economy.

“When you add the number of uninsured to the number of people with public insurance in some way, shape or form, it paints a picture of what we’re struggling with,” Councilman Reuben Blackwell said. “It shows more than 40 percent of our population has income challenges. People who are uninsured are not the extreme poor. They’re people who fall between the cracks, who have been employed and lost their jobs or people who are still employed but by a company that doesn’t offer health insurance.”

Blackwell also is president of the Opportunities Industrialization Center, a local nonprofit that offers affordable health care to low-income people at its Family Medical Center. The center is one a few in the area that offers primary health care to residents without health insurance who can’t afford the bill.