400 additional patient appointments monthly will soon be available for scheduling
The Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Family Medicine Residency program has hit a major goal. As of July 1, the program is officially at full capacity with 18 resident doctors. This means the program has reached its plan to have six residents per class for each of its three training years.
“We are ecstatic to work together to create more access to healthcare,” said Holly Holt, Health Officer for the Florida Department of Health in Walton County. “We are grateful for these partnerships that have made it a reality.”
A big part of this success comes from a special partnership. The resident doctors get their hands-on training at the Walton Community Health Center. This facility is owned and run by the Florida Department of Health in Walton County. This partnership is the foundation of the residents’ training. From their very first day, the residents are responsible for their own patients. This allows them to build long-term relationships and provide the kind of consistent care that local families rely on.
To keep up with the growing number of doctors and the high demand for healthcare, the residency program has gotten creative with the space. They moved office space into shared office spaces, converted the residents workspace into a place for nurses to chart and moved residents to a conference room with workstations. This will allow for the addition of four brand-new clinic rooms, including an integrative health room that will focus on mental health and osteopathic adjustments. Once the renovations are complete, the total number of exam rooms will be 12. This change allows the clinic to run more smoothly and see more patients.
“Our goal is to blend service with education,” said Joshua A. Hodge, MD, Program Director, Florida State University Family Medicine Residency at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast. “By expanding our space and our resident team, we are doing more than just training doctors. We are filling a real gap in healthcare for the people of Walton County.”
The impact will be significant. With 18 residents working and the new clinic spaces, the program will be able to handle 400 more appointments every month. That brings the clinic’s total capacity to about 900 appointments each month. This is a huge help for the local area, especially since nearly 70% of the patients at the clinic do not have insurance. Without these extra appointments, many people might not get the preventative care they need, which would force them to rely on emergency rooms for help.
