Category: Community Health

FIT Wellness, part of the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition (NC FIT) Program, is dedicated to supporting justice-involved individuals by providing comprehensive behavioral health services and substance abuse treatment for patients with Severe Mental Illness (SMI). Recently, FIT Wellness and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS),...

UNC Family Medicine Assistant Professor Nadja Vielot, PhD, was recently awarded a four-year K01 grant totaling over $620K by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The grant, “Developing and piloting an intervention to reduce human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination disparities in rural adolescents,”...

The LEADoula program (formerly the Alliance for Black Doulas for Black Mamas) was an integral part of the WRAL documentary Critical Term: Why are Black Mothers and Babies Dying?, which recently won a regional Emmy Award. The documentary features LEADoula founders Venus Standard, MSN, CNM, (UNC Family Medicine, which hosts...

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services NCDHHS is investing $5.5 million to expand the FIT Wellness program, part of the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition Program (NC FIT) led by Evan Ashkin, MD, in the UNC Department of Family Medicine. The investment aims to improve reentry services...

Assistant Professor of Family Medicine Jesus Ruiz, MD, has published an “Innovations in Primary Care” article in Annals of Family Medicine addressing the community impact on UNC Chatham Hospital’s Maternity Care Center. The article, “Closing the Gap: How a Community Effort Can Improve Rural Maternity Care,” addresses how UNC Chatham Hospital, a...

Piedmont Health Services (PHS) has announced that Daniella Jaimes-Colina, Ph.D., will become the organization’s next chief executive officer. Dr. Jaimes-Colina, who brings a wealth of experience in public health administration and strategic planning, will be the first female to lead the organization. She will succeed current CEO Brian Toomey, MSW,...

Nailah Adams, MD, MS, CAQSM, was the head team physician for USA Track and Field for their 2023 Pan American Games contingent in Santiago, Chile, October 20th-November 5th. During this 2-week experience, Adams worked with a multidisciplinary team, including Physical Therapy, Athletic Training, Massage Therapy, and Sports Psychology, to take...

A UNC Family Medicine collaboration with Piedmont Health Services (PHS) and partners has resulted in a $3 million Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant to improve training in overcoming language and disability barriers, which limit access to care for many patients. The 5-year project, “Primary Care Training and Enhancement...

Dana Iglesias, MD, MPH, Medical Director of the Chatham Hospital Maternity Care Center, has been awarded a grant from The Duke Endowment to help improve the quality and the continuity of care provided to Black and Hispanic women by implementing a perinatal interdisciplinary inter-agency care coordination program in Chatham County....

According to the Centers for Disease Control, in the United States, childbirth mortality rates for Black pregnant persons are 3-4 times greater than their white counterparts, no matter their socioeconomic or education status. Given this alarming disparity, Family Medicine assistant professor Venus Standard, MSN, CNM, founded the Alliance for Black Doulas...

UNC Family Medicine Associate Professor Gayle Thomas, MD, has been named North Carolina’s 2021 Community Star by The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) for her vital work as Medical Director of the NCDHHS Office of Rural Health’s NC Farmworker Health Program. From the NOSORH Community Stars publication: “Gayle Thomas has been...

A new study led by researchers at UNC, including Dana Neutze, MD, of the Department of Family Medicine, and NC State University will give a weekly allotment of locally grown vegetables to low-income, high-risk patients at The UNC Family Medicine Center, in addition to connecting them with existing nutrition education...

Sherry Hay, MPA directs a number of community health initiatives across the department-- from helping the uninsured find options, to providing workshops on chronic disease self-management and coordinating Wellness at Work discussions and initiatives. Read a little bit about what she does and why!