Nov. 17 is National Rural Health Day

The third Thursday in November has been set aside to highlight rural communities as wonderful places to live and work, increase awareness of rural health-related issues, and promote the efforts of State Offices of Rural Health and the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health in addressing these issues.

For more than forty years CareSouth Carolina has been working to address the needs that are specific to areas like ours.

“Rural healthcare at CSC is first class health care,” said CareSouth Carolina CEO Ann Lewis.

About 300 million people live in the U.S. today, and almost 60 million of them live in a place that is considered rural. People in rural areas generally live far away from services like healthy food, pharmacies, and healthcare. Community health centers like CareSouth Carolina help bridge those gaps and their efforts have garnered many awards and accolades over the years.

“Several years ago, CareSouth Carolina was honored to be chosen by the South Carolina Office of Rural Health as Outstanding the Rural Practice of the Year,” Lewis said. “That honor was both a humbling and an inspirational event – humbling to be chosen and inspirational to know that what we have been doing at CareSouth Carolina for over four decades, in some of the most rural, undeserved and high-need counties in America, has made a difference to so many people.”

Launched in 2011, National Rural Health Day was an idea that developed out of a vision to formally recognize those whose work and contributions make a positive impact on the vast and varied healthcare needs of people and families living, working and raising their families in Rural America. This year’s theme is “Driving Change – Going the Extra Mile” and Lewis says that theme is central to CareSouth Carolina’s daily mission.

“Over 62 percent of our patients with hypertension (over 11,000 patients) are in control – a percent surpassing many urban areas,” Lewis explains. “The same holds true for diabetic control with over 74% of our 6,000 patients with diabetes under control and 68% of them have received retinal eye exams.”

CareSouth Carolina is a private, non-profit community health center delivering patient-centered health and life services in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. CareSouth Carolina operates centers in Bennettsville, Bishopville, Cheraw, Chesterfield, Dillon, Hartsville, Lake View, Latta, McColl and Society Hill. Services provided by CareSouth Carolina include family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, women services, OB/GYN, HIV/AIDS primary care, dental, chiropractic services, pharmacy, geriatrics, social services, clinical counseling, laboratory, 4D ultrasound, X-Ray, migrant services and veteran’s choice provider.

Author: Stephan Drew

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