GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — It’s a place that provides health care regardless of your insurance coverage or financial status. Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine cut the ribbon on its newly renovated administrative building this week. It’s on East Cone Boulevard, and the property will also be the site of a new health center that will offer health care, dental services and behavioral health care when it’s finished.
Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine currently provides medical services at six locations in Guilford County, thanks in part to help from a community foundation. Chief Financial Officer Danielle Cole says, “we are a federally qualified health center. We do preventative medicine, wellness checks, immunizations, acute care.”
That may sound like every medical office, but Cole says what makes her organization unique is it cares for all patients, even the uninsured and those who cannot afford to pay out of pocket. The money comes from the Tri-County Health Fund administered through the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.
“We consider ourselves to be a safety net provider,” says Cole. “So, a lot of times if a person is uninsured or they don’t have insurance, or the thought is ‘I have a limited amount of income and that needs to go towards gas or food,’ I’m not going to go and get care until it’s a really bad situation, and a lot of times I’m going to end up in the emergency room. Now I have more debt. I have a huge bill, and now I’ve bogged down that system with something that I could have gone to the doctor for and probably been treated and not had to create that effect.”
Cole says getting people that early preventative care is one of the organization’s main goals. They encourage patients to come in for checkups, use their behavioral health resources, visit the dietitian and take part in programs to keep their health in check at all times. Sometimes, a visit for one problem uncovers another.
“It starts out as one thing right. So maybe I come in and I just want to address blood pressure,” says Cole. “But then when you come in for your blood pressure you tell me ‘I’m having trouble getting food. I’m having trouble with my house.’ And so we have care managers that have resources that are available to try to address those needs.”
Reid Brannan is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist. He says behavioral health is also an important part of maintaining overall wellness.
“It’s fantastic because everybody has a common goal, and that is just integrative care, and we all come at it from different disciplines,” he says. “We are able to provide different ideas towards a more collaborative approach and looking at the whole person rather than just case files and numbers.”
Treatment costs at Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine are based on family size and income, and while insurance isn’t necessary, it is accepted along with Medicare and Medicaid, no one is turned away because of the inability to pay.
There are four locations in Greensboro and two in High Point. You can get more information online.
