“If it wasn’t for Laurel, I don’t know where I would be right now,” said Karen Fontaine said of Laurel Burns, RN, a Care Manager at Castleton Community Health. “I have a roof over my head because of her. She pointed me in all the right directions.” Burns and Fontaine met at Castleton Community Health during what Fontaine thought would be a visit to address her anxiety.
At age 60, Fontaine found herself homeless, struggling with depression and chronic health conditions. She was overwhelmed with just surviving. “Laurel connected me with a counselor. Laurel connected me with my prescription doctor. Laurel helped me with housing. Laurel answers my phone calls when I need her. I thank Laurel from the bottom of my heart,” Fontaine said.
Community Health Recognized for Quality Care
Balancing prevention and management of chronic disease are keys to Community Health’s plan to ensure positive health outcomes for the community which is why so much focus is placed on the quality of care, patient education, and outreach related to health and health equity. Recently, they were recognized as one of the top Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in the United States by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Their analysis of the last year of data identified Community Health as a Health Center Quality Leader Silver Award winner.
“I am incredibly proud of our organization, of the work and care that went into receiving quality badges from HRSA this year, and that as an FQHC of our size we are providing a quality of care that consistently ranks in the top 11-20% in the country,” said Moses Hudson-Knapp, Community Health’s Director of Population Health and Quality. “These badges are a direct reflection of our dedication to our patients and community and to delivering care at the highest level.”
As a Health Center Quality Leader Silver Awardee, Community Health is among the highest-performing health centers in the United States for best overall clinical quality performance. HRSA also recognized Community Health for the Advancing HIT for Quality Award. “The HIT award for Health Information Technology is big for us and for our patients as well. It demonstrates our vision and commitment to using technology and data to improve access, engagement, coordination and communication, and our understanding of the needs of our population,” Hudson-Knapp said.
Advancing technology in this area includes adopting electronic health record systems, offering telehealth services, collecting data on patient social risk factors, secure exchange of clinical information online with key providers in healthcare settings, and engaging patients through health IT.
Quality at the forefront of our decisions
The HRSA Quality Awards reflect the highest level of commitment to clinical quality at Community Health especially in these areas:
- Preventative Health Screening and Services
- Screenings for cervical, breast, colorectal cancer, HIV
- Screenings for depression
- BMI screenings and follow up care
- Tobacco screenings and intervention
- Childhood immunizations
- Dental sealants for children
- Perinatal Health
- Access to prenatal care
- Birth weight
- Chronic Disease Management
- Cholesterol lowering medications for cardiovascular disease
- Controlling blood pressure and reducing risk for heart attack or stroke
- Management of diabetes and linkage to care
Prevention programs available at Community Health
Community Health’s prevention programs aim to reduce the volume of patients receiving a chronic illness diagnosis. Some of the tools used for early identification of risk factors include:
- Annual wellness visits
- Pediatric development screenings
- Prediabetes risk assessments
- Diabetes A1c control
- Providing information and education about hypertension or high blood pressure
- Collaboration between providers, their medical teams and the care management teams
- Alzheimer’s support
Community Health primary care providers supply patients with access to prevention, education and assistance programs and follow the patient’s coordinated care through the network of specialized programs, screenings and routine visits provided as part of primary care for the entire family.
Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition (PCMH)
Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition has also been awarded to Community Health for meeting national standards for primary care that emphasizes care coordination and ongoing quality improvement.
Community Health was recognized under the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Patient-Centered Medical Home for meeting national standards for primary care that emphasizes care coordination and ongoing quality improvement. With expanded capacity in our care manager teams and increased care coordination, patients have been supported in accessing care, managing disease conditions and navigating care.
Karen Fontaine has found a medical home at the Castleton practice. “They all take care of me. They make me feel like I’m somebody and that there is somebody out there who wants to help. It’s a great organization,” she said.
Community Health is Vermont’s largest FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Center), a network of primary care, pediatric, behavioral health, dental and pharmacy services with offices in Rutland, Brandon, Castleton, West Pawlet and Shoreham. Community Dental offices are located in Rutland and Shoreham; Community Health Pediatrics is in Rutland; and Behavioral Health services are available at all of our locations. Community Health Express Care centers, open 7 days a week, are located at the Rutland and Castleton Community Health Centers.
Learn more about career opportunities, hours and Community Health locations on our website, chcrr.org. To reach Community Health’s Patient Access Center call 802-779-9169.
