Novant Health and YMCA of Northwest North Carolina launch strategic partnership.
June 2023- The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
Novant Health and YMCA of Northwest North Carolina recently announced they have partnered to create integrated healthcare access for the Northwest North Carolina region.
Novant Health is a system of physician practices, hospitals and outpatient centers that focus on community wellness and convenience of healthcare access. The Northwest North Carolina YMCA encompasses 17 branch locations across Alexander, Davie, Forsyth, Iredell, Stokes, Wilkes, and Yadkin counties in North Carolina. Together, the organizations will expand wellness programming, support youth sports, and establish physical and telehealth clinic locations with the goal of creating integrated healthcare access throughout the region.
The primary focus of the partnership is to reach underserved and rural communities. Novant Health aims to increase health access points by introducing healthcare services in frequented, community-based centers such as the YMCA.
The partnership will “expand combined services, create new and innovative programming, and bring additional healthcare opportunities to East Winston, one of our most vulnerable areas, with a new, in-branch clinic,” said Darryl Head, president and CEO of the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina.
Novant Health is in the process of opening an innovative community care facility inside of the Winston Lake Family YMCA in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The clinic, planned for opening in 2024, will offer primary care, women and children’s services, rehabilitation, and nutrition support.
While in the process of building the permanent clinic, Novant Health has already started providing patient care through their Mobile Community Care Cruiser. The Novant Health Community Care Cruiser provides nontraditional healthcare access to further remove barriers to care. The mobile cruiser-based clinic improves community access to routine screenings, vaccines, nutrition education and counseling free of cost.
Maintaining population health
Wellness programming is imperative to maintain and improve overall population health, especially for communities that lack access to critical care.
“From diabetes prevention to cancer survivorship, Novant Health and the YMCA have always offered complementary services for our communities,” said according to Chad Setliff, senior vice president and president of Novant Health’s Winston-Salem market. “Moving forward, we’ll offer a more integrated wellness experience that leverages the best of both organizations to improve health outcomes for patients and members, strengthen wellness offerings, and reduce barriers to care through a combination of digital tools and co-located clinics.”
Other ways that Novant Health is increasing community healthcare access is through telehealth portals. Planned for the YMCA’s rural locations, each virtual-health portal will be equipped with a telehealth platform to offer patients on-demand and remote medical exams. Patients can connect to the platform through the “Tytocare” mobile phone application which virtually connects a patient at a portal to a clinician. Through the app, a clinician can examine the patient’s heart, lungs, skin, ears, throat, and abdomen without the need for costly travel costs associated with a visit to the emergency room or doctor’s office.