GOOD SAMARITAN HEALTH CENTER OF COBB INC

Good Samaritan’s mission is to “spread the love of Christ by providing quality healthcare to those in need”. In a recent survey by WellStar, 60% percent of the communities surveyed were unable to see a doctor when needed because they couldn't afford it. While we can’t “do” everything, it is our goal that our Healthcare Home Program will make an impact on our community’s lives by giving them access to consistent quality care, diagnosed and managed Chronic Disease (Hypertension), access to oral health care, access to behavioral counseling, and linguistically and culturally appropriate health education which will result in improved clinical outcomes and the ability to make healthier lifestyle choices.

Good Sam Cobb’s Healthcare Home Program will help provide the necessary staff, medical supplies, and dental supplies to provide a comprehensive integrated approach to delivering affordable, primary and preventative healthcare. Since opening in 2006, we have found an abundance of minority patients in the "high risk" category for chronic disease such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Good Sam Cobb has seen the highest increase in cost to our planned budget related to treating chronic illnesses like diabetes. Good Sam Cobb’s Healthcare Home Program provides access to health care for patients in this high risk category to receive a complete physical examination, including the doctors' assessment as well as any EKG, radiology, spirometry, and laboratory test as deemed appropriate by the physician. Our medical professionals check vital signs, initiate lab work, and enter data into our electronic medical records to track success of patients. Providers work with patients to set achievable goals, attend linguistically appropriate health education classes focused on their risk behaviors and are taught how to implement exercise programs for healthier lifestyles.
Good Sam treats a lot of patients who have neglected their Oral Health. The condition of your teeth and gums affects other parts of your physical health and the absence of dental care leads to tooth decay, tooth loss, gum disease, cardiovascular disease, and oral pain. Neglecting oral health results in negative social stigmas and loss of work. Georgia Baptist’s support of the Dental Healthcare home portion of the program will truly provide comprehensive dental care services as a part of the whole person Healthcare Home model, including annual wellness exams, emergency care for pain relief, infection and trauma. Our dental professionals work hard to provide patients with oral health education, prevention strategies, and routine oral care and follow up. As well as providing restorative treatment plans. Consistent oral healthcare is vital for improving quality of life, overall health, relationship building, securing and retaining gainful employment.
Our newest service, mental and behavioral health counseling has already made an impact on our patients. Medical providers utilize the SBIRT (screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment model) to identify patients with substance use disorder or mental health disorders. If screening tools are found to be positive, the patient is immediately referred to an onsite behavioral health provider (LISW in most instances) who can provide brief intervention and recommend a referral for treatment. This referral may either be in­-house or with a partner in the community, depending on the level of need of the patient and their willingness to move forward with treatment.

Good Sam Cobb is best suited to operate this program because of our experience. Through 13 years of serving low-income families, the Center has learned that access to affordable healthcare and medications on a regular basis is the single most meaningful way to help a poor family get on its feet and make economic progress. Good Sam Cobb’s family centered approach, treating the “whole” person, ensures that we deliver high quality primary and preventative medical and dental services in addition to counseling, pharmaceutical, referral, and health education programs.
Good Sam Cobb also understands the obstacles that low-income patients must navigate and have taken great care to minimize. Specifically, we offer linguistically appropriate medical interpreters and documents, culturally sensitive care, sliding fee discounts for qualifying patients, and extended operating hours. Furthermore, we understand the social stigma of seeking care from a free or reduced cost facility so we modeled the center after a normal private practice. Good Sam Cobb works to eliminate the perceived stigma by treating each patient with honor, dignity, and respect.
We have adapted to our patient population by recruiting Spanish speaking medical interpreters and Spanish speaking educational materials to ensure our patients receive linguistic and culturally appropriate medical information. We also implemented patient surveys to let us know what a patient's expectations are, how our providers are doing and does the patient feel as though their medical needs are being addressed. The surveys are then reviewed in provider meetings and adjustments to care are taken if necessary.
Good Samaritan Cobb is also uniquely qualified to serve this community because we are located in Cobb County between two WellStar Hospitals, Kennestone Hospital and Cobb Hospital. Without accessible and affordable primary care, low-income populations are forced to turn to their local hospital emergency rooms to meet their chronic healthcare needs. This creates crowded ERs with a higher cost to hospitals and taxpayers and a direct economic impact on society. Because of our proximity to the hospitals, Good Samaritan Cobb is able to offset the number of individuals seeking help at the local emergency rooms by providing routine, consistent quality care. Our program helps to alleviate the overcrowded local emergency rooms by providing a medical home to patients before their health reaches a state of crisis.

In 2018, Good Sam Cobb provided access to care for 2,858 un-duplicated patients with 27,790 patient visits. Currently we are registering 100 (avg.) new patients a month. We also manage approximately 100 referrals a month to our strategic partners and provide health education classes (Target BP and Diabetes education) for our chronic disease patients. Last year, 132 patients attended the Target BP program and 202 had one on one counseling with the licensed diabetic nutritionist.