Atrium Health’s ‘For All’ Mission Gets a Big Boost From The Duke Endowment

Atrium Health Foundation has been awarded $2.83 million in recent grants from The Duke Endowment that will significantly advance Atrium Health’s ‘for all’ mission across several patient care programs and health equity initiatives.

A $750,000 grant awarded to Atrium Health Foundation through The Duke Endowment’s “Healthy People, Healthy Carolinas” initiative will allow Atrium Health to increase capacity and improve population health throughout Mecklenburg County. Launched by The Duke Endowment in 2013, Healthy People, Healthy Carolinas supports the work of community coalitions in North and South Carolina that bring together leaders from multiple sectors — including health care systems, local nonprofits, educational institutions, and others — to address social determinants of health.

In partnership with the North Mecklenburg Economic Mobility Collaborative (NMEMC), Atrium Health recently hired a program coordinator for the Healthy People, Health Carolinas Mecklenburg project to identify local advocates that will amplify the NMEMC’s efforts to address economic immobility and related health inequities. In partnership with Atrium Health, the project emphasizes chronic disease prevention through improved access to care, transportation, healthy foods, and affordable housing. The Duke Endowment’s generous investment in this work will improve the NMEMC’s capacity for project management, data analysis, and connectivity between stakeholders.

Atrium Health will also expand virtual school-based mental health programs to rural communities with a $670,000 grant from The Duke Endowment. Atrium Health Levine Children’s School-Based Virtual Care has enabled local school systems to expand access to care among students who previously waited an average of 3-6 months for behavioral health services. Support from The Duke Endowment will allow Atrium Health to expand these vital services to schools in rural parts of North Carolina, including Cleveland, Rutherford, Stanly, and Anson Counties. The program will also include a hybrid of virtual and in-person therapies for students who require on-site methods, such as play therapy, as well as the addition of a dedicated community health worker to connect students and families to resources that will address health navigation, food insecurity, and housing concerns.

Atrium Health is committed to providing the best care to patients – and being the “Best Place to Care” for all. This imperative starts with Atrium Health’s commitment to the vitality and professional growth of our own workforce. With a $640,000 grant from The Duke Endowment, Atrium Health will establish a Center for Well-Being & Development for physicians and advanced practice providers, which aims to reduce burnout and enhance professional fulfillment for 4,000 Atrium Health clinicians across all demographics in North and South Carolina, including established providers, residents, and fellows.

The Center for Well-Being & Development will support ongoing collaborative efforts between Atrium Health and the Americal Medical Association to alleviate clinician burnout. Support from The Duke Endowment will allow Atrium Health to hire a physician Chief Well-Being & Development Officer and program manager to scale existing support programs for clinicians, while creating new offerings for clinician leadership and professional development, as well as expanded mental health services and supportive programming geared towards clinician communities.

A $530,000 grant from The Duke Endowment will improve access to dental care in Anson County by supporting Atrium Health’s creation of an integrated oral health care program. The program will connect patients presenting with oral pain in the Emergency Department to local dental and community health resources. A specialized care team comprised of community health workers and referral navigators will provide patients with holistic, wraparound support.

The Duke Endowment has also invested in Atrium Health’s recent efforts to harness the potential of predictive modeling to positively impact patient outcomes across the health enterprise. With a $240,000 grant from The Duke Endowment, Atrium Health will convene experts in predictive modeling, clinical informatics, health disparities and ethics, along with health system leaders, patients, and providers to create an evidence-informed, best-practice framework. As a result, Atrium Health will be equipped to make recommendations to other health systems focused on predictive modeling, including use of artificial intelligence (AI), which has tremendous potential to improve patient outcomes and experience, lessen the burden on health care providers, and reduce costs associated with care.