One year ago, Anson County became something of a testing site for a new model of healthcare delivery. On July 14, 2014, Carolinas Healthcare System Anson opened its doors and the last patients were discharged from Anson Community Hospital.
CHS-Anson was the first of its kind in the country to offer an emergency department and primary care physician under the same roof. One year later, Gary Henderson, assistant vice president and administrator for the new hospital, said the model “definitely has been a success.”
He added that healthcare administrators from all over the country have visited CHS-Anson to take a look at the care delivery model.
“Our primary goal, other than ensuring that all Ansonians received proper medical care, was to make sure that care was in an appropriate setting,” he added. “We were probably seeing around 300 visits a month to primary care before the new facility opened, but we are far exceeding that. We have had months where there were 900 a month at Carolinas Primary Care.”
“In just a short period of time, Carolinas HealthCare System Anson has already had a significant impact on the Anson community,” said Emily Cooper, MD, MHA, medical director of Carolinas Primary Care. “We now have a more patient-friendly approach to helping our residents with wellness, disease prevention and disease management.”
In addition, more than 2,500 patients were triaged and directed to a medical home (Carolinas Primary Care) instead of going to the emergency department for primary care. Henderson attributes that to the fact that once a patient steps into CHS-Anson, they are greeted at the front desk and triaged either to the emergency department or Carolinas Primary Care, depending on their ailment.
“We are able to still see an increased population in the ER but the difference from a year ago is that these are the acute patients only,” he said.
Patients’ wait times to be triaged have also been decreased to about 30 minutes or less, Henderson said.
“The true success of what we’re doing is not only within these four walls,” he pointed out. “We’ve seen hundreds of patients out in the county with our mobile health unit.”
The mobile health unit offers screenings for people who live all over Anson County.
CHS-Anson has also implemented what Henderson calls “mental health first aid.” “We’ve done a lot of teaching with our partners in ministry and in Anson County’s public schools,” he explained. “Mental health first aid is to help the layperson provide care, and be able to identify someone who is getting close to a mental health crisis.”
There’s also a revamped health ministry program, in which local churches coordinate programs and screenings to improve parishioners’ health.
Henderson said the decrease of inpatient rooms has not been a problem. While Anson Community Hospital had 52 inpatient rooms, CHS-Anson has 15. “We still maintain two to three inpatients per day,” he said. “But we do have the opportunity to see more patients here. We are looking to improve that.”
Of course, the most critical patients will still be transported to CHS-Union in Monroe, or Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.
The Community Room at CHS-Anson is also a unique part of the new healthcare model. Local organizations can reserve the room at no cost for events. It has been used for yoga classes, and for events by the Caraway Foundation and the Anson County Partnership for Children, Henderson said.
In addition, Carolinas Primary Care has expanded to include two doctors, as well as two nurse practitioners. Emily Cooper, is now the medical director of Carolinas Primary Care. The practice is also staffed by Sandra C. Teal, RN, FNP; Kelly D. Horne, FNP; Stacy Marcum, PA; and Holly Stegall, MD, who will be joining in August.
“We look forward to continuing to provide seamless care in new and innovative ways that best serves our community’s healthcare needs. Working together, we can significantly improve the health of Anson County and change lives for the better,” said Dr. Cooper.
“More than 10 different hospital systems have come to see what we’re doing in Anson County,” Henderson said. “It’s something Anson County residents should be proud of.”
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