Press Release – April 13, 2021
Wilmington, North Carolina – Community Care of the Lower Cape Fear (CCLCF) and the Harrelson Center’s “Health Hub in the Help Hub” pilot will now be a full-fledged program, thanks to a generous grant from Live Oak Bank. The award will be used to provide Health Navigation to clients who come into the Help Hub for emergency services and have health concerns. The Help Hub at the Harrelson Center serves individuals and families in need with short term/emergency financial assistance, referrals to Harrelson Center non-profit partners, connection to community resources, and now, healthcare navigation. “By adding health related questions to the intake assessment, we discovered how many clients needed help with their own health or navigating the system.”, says Angela Ives, CCLCF Executive Director. “We embedded a care manager in the Help Hub who could help in real time and would follow up until the concern was resolved. During the pilot, we served over 240 clients – all taking place during the pandemic.”
The pilot program began through a grant from the Ministering Circle. \”We are so grateful that our pilot partnership with Community Care of the Lower Cape Fear, established through essential support from The Ministering Circle, will be further enhanced with this grant from Live Oak Bank.\” says Meade Van Pelt, Executive Director of the Harrelson Center. \”Only through multiple invested partners can we work to assure primary care is accessible to our under-insured neighbors.\”
The CCLCF Care Manager will continue to address health concerns including pharmacy and behavioral health needs, provide medical or resource referrals, and will address barriers to healthier outcomes. The program will also expand to educate nonprofits on the Harrelson Center campus to increase healthcare knowledge and utilization. The overall goal of the program is to reduce existing health care disparities by increasing access to health care and health resources, providing navigation through a complex healthcare system, facilitating improved health through care coordination and management of chronic conditions, and reducing barriers to health including food insecurity, housing issues, access to transportation, and interpersonal safety concerns. “The Health Hub program is an important part of what we do to support the communities we serve and is critical to how we measure our impact. CCLCF and the Harrelson Center are excited about the success of the Health Hub pilot and the opportunity to expand it into a full program.” says Ives.
“Live Oak is proud to support CCLCF and its work to help residents of our community gain access to healthcare in a time when people are facing very challenging situations,” said Mike Bollinger, head of pharmacy lending at Live Oak Bank and CCLCF board member. “Equitable access to healthcare, housing, transportation, education and workforce development are vital to a thriving community and Live Oak is committed to support programming like the Health Hub to drive positive change in our region.”
About Community Care of the Lower Cape Fear (CCLCF)
CCLCF is a 501(c) (3) that improves health outcomes for eligible Medicare, Medicaid, uninsured and privately insured enrollees in southeastern NC including New Hanover, Pender, Brunswick, Columbus, Onslow, and Bladen counties. Our interdisciplinary Care Teams including RN care managers, social workers, pharmacists and provider support, work with Prepaid Health Plans, ACOs, practices and providers to improve patient outcomes, experience, and satisfaction. CCLCF has a regional population health partnership with over 550 primary care providers, 7 hospitals, local health departments, social service agencies, Behavioral Health, Managed Care Organization\’s (MCO\’s) and other community-based organizations. We are a National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) accredited organization. To learn more, visit www.carelcf.org.
About The Harrelson Center
The Jo Ann Carter Harrelson Center is Wilmington, North Carolina’s campus for non-profit organizations. Founded in 2008, its mission is to provide a centralized campus for non-profit human service organizations that offer hope, opportunity and empowerment. The Harrelson Center provides administrative resources and below-market rates for office suites fostering greater operational stability for its partner non-profit organizations. In 2015, the Harrelson Center established the Help Hub to provide short-term emergency assistance to individuals or families in need, working to avoid utility disconnections and evictions, address transportation issues and make sure vital prescriptions are filled. By sharing common ground and common purpose, the organizations at The Harrelson Center enjoy certain synergy in service, networking, volunteer recruitment, marketing and educational opportunities. The Harrelson Center has 17 on-campus partners and eight off-campus associate partners with which it closely collaborates. For more information visit http://harrelsoncenter.org/.
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