By Taylor Boyd
A $50,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission may provide improved access to healthcare for Patrick County residents.
Nancy Bell, public information officer with the West Piedmont Health District, provided an update on the Healthy Patrick County Initiative at a recent meeting of the Patrick County Board of Supervisors.
She said the initiative pursued the grant funds because it lacked the expertise to know what was needed to address the county’s needs.
“It became a situation where your zip code started to affect your healthcare,” after Pioneer Community Hospital closed in 2017, she said, adding the initiative identified three priorities it plans to address in the upcoming months.
The biggest issue, Bell said, was determined to be access to healthcare.
To improve access, the group has partnered with the county’s rescue squads. Bell said the group would like to expand the rescue squad buildings to allow for EMS personnel to triage patients before transferring them to a hospital.
Additionally, providing residents in isolated areas access to telehealth appointments could be accomplished at rescue squad buildings since “the county is lacking the broadband infrastructure it needs,” Bell said, and added the project also would potentially allow for advanced training, as EMS personnel obtain paramedic status. It also would provide for equipment upgrades.
The project is unique to Patrick County, and is possible provided funding is obtained, Bell said.
The initial investment for the plan would come from grant funds, and “this model will be sustainable because of the low cost of offering the service and potential billing opportunities,” she said.
The initiative also is optimistic about offering help to current providers and has partnered with Community Health Solutions (CHS), a nonprofit agency with clients that include schools with medical residency programs.
Bell said the group, “plans to meet with Dr. Cole (of Patrick County Family Practice and Patrick County Urgent Care) to see about getting him some help, and one or two medical residents so he has the infrastructure to go 24/7, which is needed at this point.”
Bell said the group also wants to educate the community about existing resources in the county and has developed a community directory of health to do so.
“This is a listing of all the community services in Patrick County that will be updated as contact information and things changes,” Bell said, and added that there are plans to have print and online versions available.
A community dashboard is also being built by scholars from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and the University of Virginia (UVA) to map the location of assets in the county.
The map would “show where every food bank is, farm stands, convenience stores that have healthy food, schools, and rescue squads,” Bell said.
The initiative also plans to begin the herculean task of addressing social deterrents like poverty and unemployment – situations that may make someone less likely to be healthy.
“We will never solve it in a lifetime, but we can start on it,” Bell said, adding the initiative has partnered on this task with community organizations such as social services and emergency management.
The remainder of the grant money is being used to contract with CHS, who is creating a business plan and guiding the initiative’s application for the federal funds needed to support its recommendations.
The initiative currently is developing the operational aspects to determine its needs. The county provided a $2,500 cash match for the $50,000 grant, and the West Piedmont Health District matched $20,000 in-kind by providing a project manager for the grant.
In other matters at the meeting, supervisors:
* Heard an update on the county’s reassessment from William Cole of Brightminds LLC. Real estate values are stable and based on the 2018 analysis, the median cost of a home is $131,950.
*Reappointed Steve Allen to the WBEMS Board of Directors with the term expiring Dec. 2023.
* Approved a request that will allow Allen to fill two part-time EMS positions.
* Tapped CARES Act funds to provide an up to $5,000 grant to volunteer fire departments and rescue squads. The board also approved the $4 hazard pay retroactively from Apr. 1 to Dec. 30 for employee time in the field for the Building Inspection Department, Department of Social Services and the Transfer Station.
* Approved a measure to give County Administrator Geri Hazelwood oversight of the county’s Tourism Department and directors sitting on the Economic Development Authority Board.
* Appointed Harold Gregory to the EDA board to finish out Brenda Roberson’s term.
* Appointed Amy Walker as Clerk to the Board of Supervisors.
