Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist provided community benefit valued at $767.5 million in calendar year 2022, which is $26.2 million more than in calendar year 2021. These benefits include community outreach, education, research, financial assistance and many other unique efforts to help those in need.
“Even as the COVID-19 pandemic continued through 2022, our faculty, physicians, advanced practice providers, teammates and students continued their incredible dedication to elevate clinical care, conduct scientific research, train the next generation of health care leaders and innovate to meet the needs of the communities we serve – for today and for the future ahead,” said Dr. Julie Ann Freischlag, CEO and chief academic officer of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, chief academic officer and executive vice president of Advocate Health and executive vice president for health affairs at Wake Forest University.
“Speaking of innovation, we launched our virtual hospital program, with the support of our colleagues in Charlotte. This service allowed more patients to be seen more quickly and closer to home at our hospitals in North Wilkesboro and Lexington. In the same spirit of innovation, we developed the COMPASS-CP digital platform which helps decrease the likelihood of patients suffering future strokes.”
Wake Forest Baptist supported local organizations, such as Senior Services and projects such as the Metropolitan Village redevelopment, that will help reduce health disparities and improve the quality of life for those in our community who are in greatest need.
In 2022, construction began on the new care tower at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. This facility will allow for expanded and enhanced emergency and critical care capabilities, while offering more opportunities for research and education.
In 2022, Wake Forest Baptist’s first 24/7 urgent care clinic opened, which increases access and convenience for families, and the health system offered free sports physicals to more than 400 area high school student-athletes, as part of their Athletic Training Outreach Program.
Wake Forest University School of Medicine researchers continued to lead groundbreaking work that will change the way patients are cared for around the world and improve the health of local communities.
Wake Forest University School of Medicine students continued their service to those in greatest need, through the DEAC (Delivering Access to Care) Clinic, the Share the Health Fair and many other projects throughout the community.
By partnering with Davidson-Davie Community College, Wake Forest Baptist created the largest health care apprenticeship in North Carolina, to fill critically needed roles in the health system and, at the same time, give people in the community the education and skills that are needed to serve in a variety of health care roles.
“2022 concluded with us joining together with Advocate Health, one of the largest health care systems in the country, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the organization,” Freischlag said. “As we continue building a second Wake Forest University School of Medicine campus in Charlotte and begin expanding clinical trials across a much larger footprint of the United States, I cannot wait to see the even greater impact we will have on the lives of those in our community, our region and far beyond.”
Unreimbursed care. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist provided $540 million in estimated unreimbursed care in calendar year 2022, a $19.8 million increase over the previous year.
Financial assistance. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist provided $52.5 million in financial assistance in 2022.
Education and research. In 2022, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist provided $148.9 million in education funding for medical students and other health care professionals and in research funding not covered by outside sources. This amount represents an increase of $15 million over the previous year and is due to increased faculty effort in basic science instruction as well as increased research expenses in the following areas: regenerative medicine, cancer, health care innovation, physiology and pharmacology, precision medicine, cancer biology and clinical and translational science.
Community health improvement. In 2022, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist provided $15.4 million in community health initiatives, operations and donations. This included the health system’s FaithHealth care initiatives, Brenner FIT program, athletic trainer programs in Alleghany, Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford, Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin County schools, pastoral care counseling through CareNet network, physicians’ community health access, community donations, direct patient assistance (including free prescription drugs), rapid response team and hospice/palliative care services.
Additionally, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist provided $10.6 million in subsidized operations for its Downtown Health Plaza health program, the Bethesda and Southside health clinics, School Health Alliance initiative, supportive care and behavioral health service lines, patient transportation and other direct patient assistance (including skilled nursing).
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist is part of Charlotte-based Advocate Health, the nation’s third-largest nonprofit health system, which contributed $5.9 billion in charitable care and services, representing 15% year-over-year growth compared to amounts the previous year for Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health, which combined in December 2022 to form Advocate Health.
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist reports its community benefit annually as required by the North Carolina Medical Care Commission, an agency of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Health Service Regulation.
Additional information about Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s community benefit report is available online in the Letter From Our CEO and Community Financial Support.
Media contact: Joe McCloskey, jmcclosk@wakehealth.edu