Wellness Center | Helping Hands Urgent Care

Mission: Provide medical resources that will break the chain of generational poverty as it related to an individual’s overall health.

Vision: Deliver comprehensive medical care that meets the needs of our at-risk communities.

Executive Summary:

Helping Hands Wellness Center (HHWC) was developed to meet the low to mid-level medical care needs of the at-risk communities within the Southwest Michigan area. Our care will be aimed at acute and chronic health conditions. HHWC is designed to deliver primarily scheduled but also unscheduled walk-in medical care. Development of the wellness center will facilitate easily accessible and faster access to care for patients and their families. This will be done by providing extended weekday and weekend service hours.

HHWC will integrate into the healthcare systems of the Southwest Michigan area by alleviating the demand of lower acuity patients that is placed on the emergency department. The services of HHWC will also provide overflow healthcare needs to patients with acute illnesses for the already overtaxed primary care system. This shift of care is done by providing services to patients with lower acuity needs thus lowering the demand of the emergency department and lowering healthcare cost for all.

5 Keys to Success:

95% of appointments are scheduled at least 72 hours before actual visit.
95% resulting in 5-star patient satisfaction rating based on in-house survey collections.
100% of patients have full physical, mental, and nutritional assessment each visit.
100% of all staff complete medical and leadership training quarterly.
100% of patient appointments are scheduled for 30 minutes.

Understanding Our Leadership:

The heart of our leadership team is to help and serve others. This mindset begins in our homes and extends to our daily lives. The goal is to positively impact each person that we encounter daily. This mindset is created by knowing that each decision that we make impacts more than just ourselves. This type of focus is ideal for leadership in a healthcare setting because we are caring for ill and vulnerable patients daily.

Leadership:

Executive Leadership:	Executive Director: Threasa Hawkins BSN, RN
HHWC Directors:	Clinical Director: Antwain Allen MSN, BS, FNP-C Operations Associate Director: Glyn Hawkins
Board of Directors:	Director of Organizational Growth and Values: Shelly Edgerton Director of Clinical Perspectives: Bobby Hopewell Director of Community Engagement: Pam McQueer Director of Economic Growth: Lashae Simmons II
Medical Leadership:	Medical Director: Brian Queen, MD

Leadership Bios

Program Overview:

The goal of Helping Hands Wellness Center is to partner with other community-based organization so together we can break the chain of generation poverty. We want to improve the overall health of our community so we must go into the community to successful achieve this goal. Going into the community is done by providing onsite services that meets the specific needs of each organization that we partner with. These organizations can range from schools to community centers.

There are three focus areas to successfully care for a patient. At HHWC we will address each patient’s physical, emotional, and nutritional needs. By focusing on these three areas of health, we can get a complete picture of the patient’s overall wellbeing. This approach to the patient’s health breaks the chain of generational poverty at multiple links in the chain. The patient can understand how to manage their physical health, manage emotional stressors, and put healthier food options into their bodies. Many studies have shown that a healthier lifestyle has a direct impact on the economic status of an individual’s home and their community as a whole.

Our heart is to deliver treatment to patients with non-life-threatening conditions that require swift attention. Some of these conditions include flu, cold symptoms, urinary infections, minor bone fractures, sore throat, ear pain, and minor lacerations to name a few. Over the past twenty years hospitals have looked to outpatient medical centers to reduce the inappropriate visits to the emergency department for lower acuity conditions. As the United States population is growing faster than the primary care provider shortage can meet the demand for service, outpatient medical centers are bridging the gap of needed care for acute non-life-threatening issues.

Giving Back to the Community:

HHWC will be implementing a program within the urgent care to assist the community with becoming familiar with career opportunities within healthcare. The program with be for all residents, with a heightened interest for at risk populations. The program will be for residents age 10 to adulthood. The program will also provide opportunities for healthcare and entrepreneurship focused college majors. This will be achieved by providing observation, clinical and externship opportunities. HHUC will also provide annual financial contributions to organizations that are providing services to at risk populations within the Southwest Michigan area.

Services:

The services that HHWC provide will meet the needs of our community by providing non-emergent care in an outpatient setting. Patients seen at HHUC that are higher acuity with be transferred to the nearest emergency department by private care or ambulance. The following is a basic list of services (but not limited to this list):
• Medical Assessments
• Nutritional Coaching (Dietitian / Nutritionist)
• Emotional Coaching (Social Work / Therapist)
• X-ray Imaging
• Lab Services
• Minor Procedures
• Urine Testing (Drug, Pregnancy, UTI)
• Wound Care
• Flu Swabs
• Pre-employment Services

Location:

Helping Hands Wellness Center

Site 1

Kalamazoo Gospel Ministries

526 N. Burdick Street
Kalamazoo, Mi 49007

The location of Southwest Michigan has been chosen as the starting foundation for HHWC because this is the area that the ownership resides, and we all take pride in it. Due to this pride, the choice was made to serve this community by providing the best medical care services possible.

Staffing Model:

There are multiple options for the Clinical Lead at HHWC. There will be staffed nurse practitioners, physician assistance and physicians. The clinical lead will be responsible for overseeing the daily clinical operations of the urgent care. The clinical lead will manage the care of each patient with the assistance of the support staff. The clinical lead will also make the determination if each patient can be appropriately cared for in the urgent care setting or does the patient need to be transferred to the emergency department for a higher level of care.

There are multiple options for the Emotional/Behavior Health Lead at HHWC. This position will be staffed by a licensed Masters’ prepared social worker. This person will evaluate and manage patients with both acute and chronic psychological conditions. The social worker will also consult with the clinical lead on staff as needed for and medical conditions or transfers to the emergency department for higher levels of care.

There are multiple options for the Nutritional Lead at HHWC. This position will be held by a licensed dietitian. This position will evaluate and manage patients with acute and acute on chronic nutritional conditions. This will include but no limited to meal planning, interactions with certain food and medications and proper weight management.

The staffing model includes ancillary medical staff. These staff members will be essential to the daily flow and success of HHWC. Ancillary staff will consist of but not limited to; medical assistant, registered nurse, certified nursing assistant, emergency medical technician, paramedic, and radiology technician.

Next Step:

We would be honored to have the opportunity to sit down for a more detailed conversation. At that time, we can discuss the possibility of strengthening our relationship for many years to come. Together we can positively impact the overall health of our community one home at a time.