Community care clinic advances med school’s mission to serve the underserved

September 24, 2024

Reaching out and serving those in need. Selflessly, with empathy and compassion.

Caring for the underserved and rural populations, throughout North Carolina and beyond, is a primary mission of Campbell University's Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine.

A heart-felt passion, an ongoing commitment.

The Campbell University Community Care Clinic delivers on that promise, offering free visits, lab work, imaging and medications to people who would not otherwise have access to health care. The clinic sees only uninsured patients, living at or below 200 percent of the U.S. poverty line.

It's the only such clinic in the country run solely by students, with some faculty oversight.

Established in 2014 within the med school, the clinic is composed of physicians and physician assistants who oversee teams of medical, PA and pharmacy students.

The clinic is funded through a state grant, which sponsors 1,500 patients a year. Beyond that it relies on donations and other support, reporting 1,687 visits two years ago and 1,598 last year.

On Friday, Sept. 20, medical students, faculty, staff and guests gathered for the CUCCC Gala, an annual fundraising event for the clinic, which is composed of a standing clinic in Harnett County and two mobile sites.

Student organizers sold nearly 90 tickets for the event, which also featured a private auction.

Emily Cottrell, a second-year student from Buffalo and fundraising coordinator and gala chair, came to the med school determined to immerse herself in the mission to serve the community.

"It just means so much to care for your community and making sure that people who don't have that adequate health care do have the health care that they need," she said.

All proceeds from the event directly help support the clinic, which is equipped with lab testing, a pharmacy and mental health counseling. It also includes visits with medical providers.

"Without your support, we can't go forward," said Dr. Joseph D. Cacioppo, chair of CUCCC's Department of Community and Global Health. "These fundraisers fill the gap for us, so that we're able to provide that care.

"It really speaks to the heart of the school, and especially to the heart of the students in wanting to serve," he said. "That's why this is so essential. Without this sort of thing, without the money we're able to generate from these events, we wouldn't be able to function.

"We depend on it," Cacioppo said.

The event celebrated student achievements and the critical role the clinics play toward promoting and ensuring community health, providing some $1.6 million in care annually and saving hospitals some $3.2 million, largely in costs incurred by patients who use emergency rooms for health issues better served by primary care physicians.

"That's huge for these hospitals, and also for the people who need the emergency rooms who aren't getting that help because there's no one to care for them," Cacioppo said.

The clinic, too, provides ongoing care for so-called silent and chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension.

"We are able to identify that and treat that," Cacioppo said.

"Diabetes and hypertension are huge in our area, and patients that we see have no insurance living at the 200 percent or less poverty line, so, effectively, they have no care if it wasn't for us."

Eelya Sefat, a second-year med student from Charlotte, is the clinic's executive director. Health care access, especially in rural counties such as Harnett and Duplin, for example, is a consistent problem, he said.

"We're celebrating the power of hope and resiliency, as well as the community banding together to provide care and to support those who really need the help," Safat said. "Without your dedication we could not continue the life-changing work we do.

"In a time when access to health care remains a challenge for many, organizations like ours are so essential to providing care to so many that don't have access to it."

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