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A Community Partner’s Perspective on the
Proposed WakeMed and Atrium Health Merger
Dear Friend,
Many of you have asked us how the proposed merger between WakeMed and Atrium Health could affect Alliance Medical Ministry (AMM) and the patients we serve.
I think the best place to begin is with WakeMed’s longstanding commitment to AMM and the community we serve. WakeMed is AMM’s largest funder year after year, and its support has been essential to our ability to provide care to our communities' most underserved. We are deeply grateful for that partnership. It extends well beyond their generous financial support to our electronic health record system, translation machines, EKG machines, and specialty volunteers who share their time, and, of course, being included in the important conversation regarding public health.
Our Missions are very similar. AMM serves patients who are uninsured and not enrolled in Medicaid. WakeMed is Wake County's safety net hospital - caring for so many people who are indigent or uninsured—regardless of their ability to pay. But they also accept Medicaid and insurance. We are not experts in hospital billing or health-system finance, but we are closely connected to the experiences of our community’s most vulnerable and underserved residents. WakeMed serves a disproportionate share of the county’s low-income and uninsured residents and provides a substantial amount of charity and uncompensated care. Its emergency and trauma departments are among the top 15 busiest in the nation.
From AMM’s perspective, this proposed transaction is important for three main reasons: the needs of Today, Tomorrow, and The Safety Net. Today. The needs of today are not being met for the more than 75,000 uninsured in Wake County. Our health-care system needs additional capacity, resources, and services to meet that growth and its needs. Where will this capacity come from that serves this specific population? Tomorrow. It is vital not only for today, but for the long-term future of our community- 20 -30 years down the road. Wake County continues to be one of the fastest-growing counties in the U.S. The safety net. We believe that an agreement with Atrium will preserve and strengthen their mission as a safety net hospital. It will expand its capacity to serve. We believe it is important to ask how the substantial and costly resources and infrastructure needed to serve a rapidly growing Wake County would otherwise be secured if not for the merger. The cost savings to our community and to all the hospital systems that will be realized by expanded charity care will be tremendous. And you can't put a number on the human impact – the lives that will be saved and impacted by expanded charity care.
At the same time, we recognize that people have questions and concerns about the proposed merger. Those concerns deserve to be heard and considered carefully. Decisions about health-care access, affordability, competition, quality, and WakeMed’s role as the community safety-net provider will affect all of us – today and tomorrow.
We are grateful for WakeMed’s partnership and for everyone who is participating in this important conversation. We happen to be a partner that sees every day their commitment to our communities' most vulnerable populations and the extreme need for more of this kind of work. AMM will continue to advocate for an outcome that protects access to care and strengthens support for our uninsured and underserved neighbors. We believe that this merger is in the best long-term interests of our community.
Thank you,
Pete Tannenbaum,
AMM Executive Director |
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Meet Hannah- Kenan Urban Scholar
AMM hosted two Kenan Urban Scholars from the UNC School of Medicine this summer. The Kenan Urban Scholars are a group of medical students who provide targeted care for marginalized populations by addressing the community's specific needs. For six weeks, these students learn more about Raleigh’s most vulnerable populations and how to provide quality medical care to them.
Hannah is a second-year medical student who wants to "bridge the communication gap between patients and the complexities of healthcare, making sure that medical advice is both culturally conscious and accessible for underserved communities."
To read more about Hannah, click here.
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Health Kits Needed
Want to host an engaging group service project that is perfect for all ages and doesn't require any travel? Collect and assemble supplies for a kit build! We give these kits to our patients, and they fly off the shelves!
There are four types of kits that you can build: flu kits, menstrual kits, dental kits, and summer care kits. To learn more about what you need to build kits, click here.
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Community Health Worker Week
This week is Community Health Worker (CHW) Week! AMM's CHW, Celina, goes above and beyond to help patients learn to use public transportation, find much-needed resources, and more. Thank you, Celina, for all that you do!
"A Community Health Worker (CHW) serves as a vital bridge between communities and healthcare systems, playing a crucial role in promoting health and improving access to services."
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August is Immunization Month
National Immunization Awareness Month is a yearly reminder that vaccines are important at every age - not just childhood! Many vaccine-preventable diseases still circulate in the community, and making sure you're protected from them is a big part of staying healthy. If you missed some of your shots when you were younger, now is a great time to get caught up. If you are a patient at AMM, your provider will be happy to review your immunization history and recommend what you need.
To read more, click here.
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Garden Community Volunteer Days
Our Community Garden thrives with the support of over 300 community volunteers. We invite anyone in the community to volunteer with us. All ages are welcome to volunteer. With 14 rows and eight raised garden beds, there's always work to be done! Typical volunteer tasks include planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting.
Friday, September 4th, 9-11 am
Saturday, September 19th, 9-11 am
Friday, October 9th, 9-11 am
Saturday, October 17th, 9-11 am
To sign up, click here.
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How Honeybees Contribute to Health
Every day, small pollinators visit the flowers in our pollinator garden here at Alliance Medical Ministry (AMM) — honey bees among them, doing quiet but essential work. Without them, our garden couldn’t produce the food we're able to share with our patients.
Honey is a wonderful example of how food, nature, and health are deeply connected. It illustrates why AMM’s approach to patient care includes our community garden, nutrition education, and wellness programming as we support sustainable, whole-person health.
To read more, click here.
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