POSTED: Sunday, December 28, 2008
HopeHealth's Future Looks Bright
By JAMIE DURANT
Morning News Health/Environmental Reporter
Published: December 28, 2008
Things are looking bright for the future of HopeHealth in Florence. The organization, which helps secure treatment and testing for HIV and AIDS, expanded its services in 2007 to include primary care for any patients who walk through the doors. They also recently moved into a new building on Palmetto Street.
Whitney Meade, the newly hired executive assistant to executive director Carl Humphries, said her time with the organization has been nothing but good times, thus far.
"I'm very excited to be here," she said. "HopeHealth really is a family and I've been welcomed with open arms."
Humphries said the move to the new building has allowed the organization to once again open its doors to new patients for the coming year.
"We needed more space," he said. "We were overcrowded at our other building, plus we felt like we needed to modernize and to own our own building."
He said the new building is nearly twice as big as the one they moved out of.
Along with the move, Meade said, came advanced technology that allows the doctors and nurses to better see to the patients' health.
"We've definitely stepped forward in the use of technology," she said. "We're using things like electronic tablets that allow the doctors to pull medical files themselves."
Humphries said the switch to electronic file keeping was a natural conclusion when outfitting the new facility.
"Electronic medical records will be the norm five years from now, but we are trying to get out ahead," he said. "It's pretty neat technology. We're trying to get to the point where we can eliminate our paper charts."
But, Meade said, HopeHealth hasn't forgotten what makes it strong - its ties to the Florence community.
"In January, we'll have our Dining With the Stars event," she said. "We have multiple fundraisers and events throughout the year to raise money and bring the community together."
Humphries said he plans to continue the course the organization had set in previous years in terms of fundraising, but to go that extra mile in 2009 to strengthen the community health center.
"We'll be doing all the fundraisers we normally do, but I think a big focus in 2009 is our community health center - expanding our family practice and serving the number of patients in Florence who need primary medical care."
In doing that, they hope to add new doctors to the practice as well.
"We've taken the first step with the new facility," Meade said. "In our old building, we were sort of maxed out. In the next month or two, we plan to add a new primary care physician to the practice."
And, Humphries said, the key to all this growth for 2009 is the new location.
"Our new location is very visible," he said. "Our previous location wasn't, so that's another benefit. We didn't really want to advertise before we moved in here, because we couldn't really hold any more patients, but now we want to locate those folks around us who need primary medical care and aren't getting it."
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POSTED: Sunday, December 28, 2008
HopeHealth's Future Looks Bright
By JAMIE DURANT
Morning News Health/Environmental Reporter
Published: December 28, 2008
Things are looking bright for the future of HopeHealth in Florence. The organization, which helps secure treatment and testing for HIV and AIDS, expanded its services in 2007 to include primary care for any patients who walk through the doors. They also recently moved into a new building on Palmetto Street.
Whitney Meade, the newly hired executive assistant to executive director Carl Humphries, said her time with the organization has been nothing but good times, thus far.
"I'm very excited to be here," she said. "HopeHealth really is a family and I've been welcomed with open arms."
Humphries said the move to the new building has allowed the organization to once again open its doors to new patients for the coming year.
"We needed more space," he said. "We were overcrowded at our other building, plus we felt like we needed to modernize and to own our own building."
He said the new building is nearly twice as big as the one they moved out of.
Along with the move, Meade said, came advanced technology that allows the doctors and nurses to better see to the patients' health.
"We've definitely stepped forward in the use of technology," she said. "We're using things like electronic tablets that allow the doctors to pull medical files themselves."
Humphries said the switch to electronic file keeping was a natural conclusion when outfitting the new facility.
"Electronic medical records will be the norm five years from now, but we are trying to get out ahead," he said. "It's pretty neat technology. We're trying to get to the point where we can eliminate our paper charts."
But, Meade said, HopeHealth hasn't forgotten what makes it strong - its ties to the Florence community.
"In January, we'll have our Dining With the Stars event," she said. "We have multiple fundraisers and events throughout the year to raise money and bring the community together."
Humphries said he plans to continue the course the organization had set in previous years in terms of fundraising, but to go that extra mile in 2009 to strengthen the community health center.
"We'll be doing all the fundraisers we normally do, but I think a big focus in 2009 is our community health center - expanding our family practice and serving the number of patients in Florence who need primary medical care."
In doing that, they hope to add new doctors to the practice as well.
"We've taken the first step with the new facility," Meade said. "In our old building, we were sort of maxed out. In the next month or two, we plan to add a new primary care physician to the practice."
And, Humphries said, the key to all this growth for 2009 is the new location.
"Our new location is very visible," he said. "Our previous location wasn't, so that's another benefit. We didn't really want to advertise before we moved in here, because we couldn't really hold any more patients, but now we want to locate those folks around us who need primary medical care and aren't getting it."
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