WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., June 12, 2026 — Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist has received a $1.3 million grant from The Duke Endowment to support implementation of the Community Outreach Network for Navigating Emergency Care Transitions (CONNECT), part of the statewide Bridge to Health initiative supported by The Duke Endowment and the North Carolina Healthcare Foundation.
Bridge to Health is a multiyear initiative to improve care for patients with complex medical and social needs by expanding transitional ‘bridge’ clinics and strengthening connections among health systems, primary care providers and community organizations.
CONNECT will address critical challenges such as homelessness, lack of insurance and unmanaged chronic conditions among vulnerable populations in Forsyth County. The program will establish a bridge clinic at Highland Avenue Primary Care to connect high-risk patients to coordinated primary care, behavioral health services and essential social support.
The model integrates care across clinical and community settings, using referrals from emergency departments and community partners to identify patients and provide up to 90 days of intensive, coordinated care. Through partnerships with organizations including City with Dwellings, The Dwelling, Samaritan Ministries and the Bethesda Center for the Homeless, CONNECT will help stabilize patients and connect them to long-term care and supportive services.
“This investment allows us to deepen our commitment to patients whose needs extend beyond traditional care models,” said Dr. Richard Lord, chair of family and community medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, and principal investigator for CONNECT. “By integrating medical care with behavioral health and community-based support, we can improve outcomes, reduce unnecessary emergency care and create more sustainable pathways to health and stability.”
The four-year initiative will also include collaboration with regional and statewide partners to evaluate outcomes and refine care models that can be scaled across North Carolina.
“We are deeply grateful for The Duke Endowment for their investment to bring CONNECT to life in Forsyth County—from establishing a bridge clinic at Highland Avenue Primary Care to deepening partnerships with organizations serving individuals experiencing homelessness. Together, we’re expanding access to the support systems people need beyond the walls of the hospital,” said J. Steven Barnes, vice president of philanthropy Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Chief Academics Philanthropy Officer, Advocate Health.
CONNECT builds on Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s longstanding commitment to addressing both medical and social drivers of health through community partnerships, population health programs, and innovative care models.
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About Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist is advancing clinical care and research across the communities it serves by redefining care for all. The care network is anchored by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, a 933-bed tertiary care hospital that includes Atrium Health Levine Children’s Brenner Children’s Hospital, along with five community hospitals, more than 300 care locations and over 2,700 physicians. Based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, it is part of Charlotte-based Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the United States. Advocate Health is a preeminent academic health system at the forefront of clinical excellence, innovation and research, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as its academic core. Nationally recognized for expertise in heart and vascular, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, Advocate Health is also a pioneer in the delivery of virtual health care. It’s accelerating discovery by making research participation part of the standard-of-care through its one-of-a-kind National Center for Clinical Trials. Each campus of the school of medicine has an affiliated life-sciences focused, Innovation Quarter, in Winston-Salem and The Pearl, in Charlotte. Advocate Health has one of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs, with an experiential learning focus and specialized residencies to help protect the long-term sustainability of rural health care in America. Nationally, Advocate Health has more than 165,000 teammates serving patients at 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations across eight states. Advocate Health reinvests over $6 billion each year to improve community health, making it one of the nation’s largest providers of community benefit.