Novant Health community health workers forge deep connections with patients

There is always a story behind a story.

This is how the Novant Health community health worker approaches each and every patient. By seeing patients as people and looking deep into their situations, the community health worker gets to the social issues behind each person’s story.

Consider these instances:

• When community health worker William White met a man living in a makeshift tent inside a Charlotte storage unit, he set out to find out why — and to help. White wound up helping the man get critical medical treatment for a lingering health condition that contributed to being homeless.

• By staying plugged into Winston-Salem outreach programs, community health workers Pamela Mathis and Maria Rebella can share needs with these social services groups that benefit clients. This led to Winston-Salem Rescue Mission committing a monthly donation of up to $300 worth of goods to a participant in the community health worker program.

• Donna Greene, a community health worker based at Novant Health Rowan Medical Center, knows that some patients visiting the emergency department need more than medical help. Some are homeless and seeking shelter from the elements. Greene works with these patients to help find them places to stay once they are discharged from the hospital.

Examples like these illustrate how Novant Health leverages our community health workers as trusted neighbors. They connect one-on-one with patients and serve as a liaison between the patient and healthcare system, as well as social and community services in their county. They assist clients with finding medical care, housing, food, transportation services, job or college options, and more.

Patients who are government-insured or uninsured are eligible for the community health worker program, which spans 90 days and includes comprehensive medical, mental health and social needs screenings for participants. This approach has helped community health workers successfully address health disparities and socioeconomic drivers of disease among patients.

A chance encounter between White, who was checking on his own rental storage unit, and his future client led to the community health worker connecting the man with medical and financial assistance from Novant Health. Following a doctor’s visit at Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic, the man was referred to a surgeon to correct his medical condition. He later recovered at a hotel.

Today, he is renting a room at a boarding home and no longer lives in the storage facility — in part due to the help and encouragement he received from the community health worker team.

“He not only needed help to find the appropriate medical resources, which he did not believe were available to him without insurance — he needed a helping hand, a little encouragement and someone to believe in him,” White said. “He needed someone to help navigate him back to a positive place and let him know that he mattered.”

And today, White said, “He is one of the most promising patients I have seen.”

This story is featured in Novant Health’s 2021 Community Impact Report. Read more about Novant Health’s work to promote health and wellness through community benefit.