External Projects NC Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) The NC AHEC system facilitates State Health Workforce Planning, particularly crucial in the context of current issues that impact health care delivery and the health care workforce during and after a pandemic. In NC Senate Bill 704 (S704) passed in 2020, the AHECs were tasked to study the effects of COVID-19 on the healthcare workforce. AHEC plans to use the results of the study, in collaboration with the Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine, to create plans for a state-wide workforce response in the event of a future health crisis. Thus, AHEC agrees to provide three deliverables in partnership with Campbell: AHEC Deliverable #1: Provide to the NC General Assembly the comprehensive response to the Pandemic Health Workforce Study mandated in S704. AHEC Deliverable #2: The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research (Sheps Center) will support the development and maintenance of a database of physician practices in NC and a web-based emergency response tracking system that can be used to: 1. Quickly contact and survey physician practices in communities across NC in case of an emergency (pandemic, hurricane, etc.) 2. Facilitate and track technical assistance being provided based on assessed need, by NC AHEC, NC DHHS Office of Rural Health, and other organizations such as health departments, free and charitable clinics, professional societies, etc. 3. Conduct research to better understand the distribution of primary care practices and other physician practices, including the variation co-located physician specialties and different models of team-based care needed to address population health needs in North Carolina AHEC Deliverable #3: Sheps Center will implement modernizations of its workforce data system. North Carolina is fortunate among states to have 40 years of data about the health workforce. For just as long, policymakers and researchers have used these data to discover and ameliorate disparities in healthcare access, especially in rural areas. Yet, the COVID-19 crisis has made clear that North Carolina’s workforce data system must be modernized to respond quickly and flexibly to data requests.
Southern Regional Area Health Education Center Under Dr. Emily Ghassemi’s leadership, the Southern Regional Area Health Education Center (SRAHEC) has increased COVID-19 and influenza testing in the local community by providing testing supplies, personnel, and safer facilities for testing. Additionally, healthcare professionals and community members have attended educational programming to address COVID-19 specific health disparities in the community and to provide support for trauma informed care for healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Benson Area Medical Center Dr. Beth Mills directed an extension of primary care services for diabetes management through the Benson area. This project established a working model for in-home, drive-up and telehealth encounters with diabetes patients who may not have been able to come into the clinic due to fear or COVID-19 vulnerability. Diabetes is one of the most commonly found comorbidities in patients with severe COVID-19 disease. Risks associated with COVID-19 disease are lower if diabetes is controlled. This project enabled Benson Health, a community owned non-profit rural health center, to provide diabetes care services to patients who had canceled or postponed treatment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
