April 2019

In this issue...

CEO Connection

Board Chair Message

NC HealthConnex

Deputy Director

Director of Quality & Clinical Support

Calendar of Events

NAFC Update

Quick Links

Welcome to our newest member clinic!

Greenville Community Shelter Clinic

NAFC National Health Care Symposium

Are you going to the Symposium? Let Mark know so your name can be added the list. With the symposium being in Atlanta, it's a great chance for many of you to go next year. We hope to have a large contingent at the meeting to showcase North Carolina and all our wonderful clinics.

The list is growing. Join us in Atlanta!

April Cook

Tracy Salisbury

Bri Niggel

Sherri Fisher

Tony Price

Sandy Motley

Jerry Hermanson

Cindy Cole

Leona Doner

Randy Jordan

Mark Scheerer

Andy Kurtzman

Janet Jarrett

CEO Connection

Randy Jordan, CEO

Looking Around the Corner

 

In our Monday morning staff meetings, Cindy Jones often describes one of NCAFCC’s roles as “looking around the corner” for the benefit of our Members and I agree. Our vantage point as a statewide association allows us to interact with folks that are responsible for the future of health policy in our state and sometimes we get a brief glimpse of what might lay ahead for NCAFCC’s free and charitable clinics and pharmacies. One such opportunity is with the Healthy North Carolina 2030 Task Force (“HNC2030”) being conducted by the NC Institute of Medicine. The Healthy North Carolina program began at NCIOM more than 20 years ago to propose health policy priorities for our state during the upcoming decade. I was asked to co-lead the HNC2030 Clinical Care Work Group and it has given me a birds-eye seat on the Task Force’s activities. It seems clear to me that one thing that lies “around the corner” is a growing emphasis on the role of social factors affecting health, now known in our state as Healthy Opportunities. Roughly 80% of the Task Force’s focus and 16 of 20 measured outcomes is on social interventions related to health like food support, transportation, housing and interpersonal violence and only 20% (four measured outcomes) is dedicated to clinical care interventions. So far, measuring the state’s level of “uninsured” residents ranks high among the options being considered by the Clinical Care Work Group and I am pleased to report that the needs of North Carolina’s uninsured and our work to support them appears to remain among the state’s health policy priorities for the next 10 years. One other “look around the corner” for you is that Dr. Adam Zolotor, Executive Director of the NC Institute of Medicine, has agreed to discuss the findings of the HNC2030 Task Force as a featured speaker at our upcoming Annual Membership Meeting in Asheville on Wednesday afternoon, June 26. See you there!

A Message from Your Board Chair

April Cook

Lake Norman Community Health Clinic

Spring is a time for new beginnings; a fresh start. It is a time to re-examine what is working well and to change those areas that are negatively impacting the way that we feel.  It is time to put away those heavy coats; literally and figuratively speaking. 

I love the freshness of the fruits and vegetables that are now available. It is a time to not only feed my body great healthy foods, but to remember to feed my soul. Spring is a great time to take up a new hobby, learn to play an instrument or learn a new language. Just making one change in your daily routine can have a huge impact on how you feel. So go ahead and shake it up. Do something crazy and out of the ordinary (preferably something that doesn’t require jail time).  Harriet Ann Jacobs said it best, “The beautiful spring came, and when nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.” 

Happy Spring and I hope to see you all at the Disaster Preparedness Workshop on April 5 ^th .

Do you have questions about getting connected to NC HealthConnex?

Email Mark for information on how to get your questions answered.

Student-Run Clinics: Diamonds in the Rough

Mark Scheerer

Deputy Director

T here are five student-run clinics who are members of NCAFCC. Campbell University Community Care Clinic, DEAC: Delivering Equal Access to Care, Greenville Community Shelter Clinic, Pitt County Care Clinic, and Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC).

Personally, I find their enthusiasm and passion energizing. Whenever representatives from the clinics attend one of our meetings, they never hesitate to speak up and contribute to the meeting. They bring unique perspectives since leadership changes yearly which means new leaders bring new ideas and talents. This month, I want to highlight the Campbell University Community Clinic and an initiative they have started at their clinic. Each year, student leaders attend the Society of Student-Run Free Clinics Conference; and often do presentations to highlight their work. This year has been no exception with two clinic leaders showcasing a new clinic initiative. They sent me an article that summarizes their presentation.

“The Campbell University Community Care Clinic Health

and

Wellness Initiative”

 

By James Muller CUSOM OMS-III

 

James Muller OMS-III and Kailey Remien OMS-III represented the Campbell University Community Care Clinic (CUCCC) at the Society of Student-Run Free Clinics Conference 2019 in Kansas City, KS. This conference brings together health professional students from across the country who help operate their student-run free clinics to share ideas on how to better the care for our patients.

We presented a project entitled “Campbell University Community Care Clinic Health and Wellness Initiative.” I was the 2017 Co-Director for the CUCCC and Kailey was the 2017 Fundraising and Marketing Chair for the CUCCC. The Health and Wellness Initiative (H&W) started in 2017. Two students, the H&W Initiative Director and the Community Outreach Director, who are passionate about preventative medicine and see the need for proper nutrition, smoking, and exercise counseling in a primary care setting, were chosen to help start this program. With the initiation of this program, every patient at the CUCCC will receive approximately 20-30 minutes of health and wellness counseling every time they come to the clinic.

The H&W Initiative is comprised of four main areas of interest: nutrition, smoking cessation, exercise, and special projects. For nutrition, the program focuses on all aspects of a patient’s diet but chose sugar-sweetened beverages, fast food consumption, and portion size as the three main areas of interest. The smoking cessation program assists patients in quitting smoking by pairing them with an advocate medical student from Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine.

The H&W Initiative had a very successful first year of operation and hopes to provide better preventative medicine measures to patients for many years to come. Students at the conference were very impressed by the way Campbell prepares the medical students to look at all aspects of a patient’s health. This includes addressing lifestyle habits and incorporating preventative medicine and nutrition counseling whenever possible. This project has taught us the incredible need for great lifestyle education in the primary care setting. We need to provide good nutrition, exercise, and smoking cessation counseling every time a patient comes into the clinic. It is also important to allow medical students to start practicing preventative medicine in the setting of a student-run free clinic to allow us to perfect our counseling skills. We were honored to bring our project to the incredible health professional students who continue to provide free health care every day for so many deserving patients.

Click here to view their presentation.

Pictures...and Videos...Still Needed

Last month, I mentioned that if you have pictures to share or a video on your website, we love to see them. We are looking for clinic pictures to use in publications and our website. Please share any high quality pictures you have so we can showcase our clinics. Also, if you have a video for your clinic please send me a link to it. The Free Clinics sent me a link to their video and you can view it here .

Cindy Jones

Director of Quality & Clinical Support



Quality and Clinical Support Updates

Cindy's updates will return in May.  

Americares Preparedness Essentials Boot Camp

April 5 / 10:00 am - 4:00 p.m.

NCAFCC Annual Members' Meeting

June 26 / Renaissance Asheville Hotel

More information to follow.

Primary Care Conference

June 26-28 / Renaissance Asheville  Hotel

National Health Care Symposium

October 27-29, 2019 / Atlanta

Symposium Discount

As a result of the collaboration between the NC Association of Free and Charitable Clinics and the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics (NAFC), you are now eligible to receive a $25 discount on your registration to the NAFC’s 2019 Charitable Health Care Symposium on October 27-29, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. The discount code is available until

April 30, 2019.

 

This $25 discount is available only to full-priced registrations for any member of NCAFCC. The following types of registrations already have a reduced registration fee and are not eligible for this $25 discount:

 

o    Speaker

o    Student

o    Day Rate

o    Spouse/Guest

o    Sponsor/Exhibitor

 

In order to receive this $25 discount, you must enter the following “promo code” when asked toward the end of the Symposium’s registration process:  statemember2019 

 

*Please remember to click on the “apply” button next to where you type in the promo code. Your page should refresh and reflect the discount taken off of your total.

 

IMPORTANT: If you are registering more than one person from your organization, please register each person separately using their email address and utilize the code mentioned above each time. This code will NOT work correctly if you apply it to a group registration. 

 

To register, please visit the Symposium’s site by visiting HERE.