Prioritizing an underserved community’s health: How Carelon’s new care center in Fayetteville is addressing the community’s whole health needs

Overview: State of health in the Fayetteville region

 

Many underserved communities throughout the United States increasingly need their whole wellness – which includes their physical, behavioral, and social health needs – recognized and treated more fully, with long term, integrated solutions.

Carelon’s new care center, which opened on April 5, 2023, in Fayetteville, North Carolina is helping to facilitate the area population’s whole health treatment process. The care center will serve residents throughout Cumberland County, North Carolina – as well as Medicare and Medicaid recipients – by providing non-medical counseling and EAP services. Given the proximity to Fort Liberty, the care center staff will also be sensitive to issues that military personnel experience.

 

How the need to service the Fayetteville community’s whole wellness grew

 

To understand how the need grew, it is important to understand the underlying causes. A few key factors led to the community’s expanding issue with whole health wellness:

 

Need for more resources

The U.S. is currently experiencing a shortage of behavioral health care providers, affecting several segments of the population. Over one third of Americans live in areas lacking behavioral health professionals.¹

 

Long wait times

Many individuals experience challenges with access to care, due to long wait times to see a provider. In areas such as Fayetteville, residents report having to wait weeks for an appointment to see a healthcare professional. These reports are consistent with national trends, as it now takes an average of 26 days for a person to schedule a new patient physician appointment in 15 of the largest cities in the United States.²

 

Stigma associated with getting help

In general, many Americans experience stigma when considering seeking the behavioral healthcare they need, as part of their overall whole health needs. Nearly one-third of Americans worry about others judging them when revealing they have received behavioral health services.³

 

Carelon care center in Fayetteville, North Carolina

 

The new Carelon care center’s mission is to help address these issues, with the intention of implementing lasting solutions. 

“Our counselors will act as navigators helping residents who visit the clinic get the help they need, whether it’s in person or virtually. Counselors will connect these individuals with behavioral and physical health providers, some of whom will be onsite, depending on what the needs are,” explains Angela Edmonds, Director, Behavioral Health Services, Carelon Behavioral Care.

The care center also serves the population’s needs beyond whole health. “Not only are we serving the area’s whole health needs by having physical and behavioral health under one roof, making for a seamless whole health experience. We’re employing residents as well,” notes Theresa Austin, Senior Director of Marketing, Carelon Integrated Solutions. “We employ physicians who are part of the community.”

 

What the care center does

The care center’s priorities are to address the population’s acute issues such as stress, educational concerns, and family matters, and how these issues affect the residents’ overall whole health needs, as well as that of their immediate families. “This is a great opportunity to work with and support the Fayetteville community by providing non-medical counseling and EAP type services,” says Edmonds.

The care center, staffed by a multidisciplinary care team, will book appointments via referral, both in-clinic and virtually. The intent is to provide services by meeting residents where they are, facilitating whole health solutions.

“After a referral, the individual is scheduled to meet with a non-medical counselor. At the meeting, they are assessed for short- or long-term counseling needs, as well as the overall direction of the care,” details Derek Dickens, Carelon Associate General Manager. “We are a care delivery service.”

 

Who the care center serves

As the care center is in Fayetteville, North Carolina, one of the densest military towns in the country, the care center has an opportunity to serve whole health services to a historically underserved segment of the population, as well as to servicepeople’s immediate families.

Serving the region’s Medicare and Medicaid residents is another priority. “This is an opportunity to bring a unified solution to these vulnerable communities,” says Dickens.

 

Carelon care center goals

 

The Carelon care center is a new model with a mission to provide whole person care to historically underserved communities; whole health as it relates to the stressors that have become so normalized for underserved regions throughout the country, in turn affecting residents’ physical health.

 

Reducing wait times

An immediate goal of the clinic is to reduce the wait times that residents endure when trying to get an appointment to see a healthcare provider. “Wait times are greater than six weeks right now,” notes Austin. “Achieving shorter wait times is one of our top priorities.”

 

Solidify Carelon’s commitment to the Fayetteville community

Working in conjunction with the Fayetteville community is another top priority. Edmonds emphasizes, “We want to show that we are invested in providing whole health services to the greater Cumberland County population, working together on solutions.”

 

Getting the word out

 

The care center held a grand opening on April 5, 2023, featuring a ribbon cutting ceremony. In addition, they have launched several initiatives to help get the word out about the care center:

 

Grassroots campaign

The care center marketing team will be going out to the community, handing out brochures and talking to area residents about the care center. The team will visit churches, schools, community centers, and more. “The idea is to get out into the community and meet people where they are to make them aware of the care center,” says Edmonds.

 

Media and event marketing

Carelon has launched billboard and radio ad campaigns, helping to raise awareness. They will also work with strategic partners on co-branded events, intending to educate the local population, giving the community the opportunity to meet the providers.

 

Word of mouth

Ultimately, word of mouth will be one of the most powerful methods in which the community discovers the Carelon care center. “To achieve word of mouth, the most important marketing tactic is boots on the ground; canvassing the area, and getting our name out into community,” says Dickens.

 

Future opportunities

 

“An opportunity lies in the fact that North Carolina is home to several areas we want to target with our new whole health solution. We may eventually be able to set up cobranded facilities in areas that serve multiple markets, serving additional recipients as well as their dependents and families. Over time, this program may have the potential to spread throughout the rest of the country,” explains Dickens.

 

Creating long term results

 

By providing this safe space, the Carelon care center aims to lessen the stigma associated with underserved communities seeking whole healthcare, as well as improving the rates at which underserved individuals have their health needs met.

“Ultimately, we want to create a safe space in which seeking whole healthcare is ok for the communities most in need. We want to normalize the idea of asking for help,” concludes Edmonds.