Removing Barriers to Care

Access to care is essential to improving population health. In 2015, Backus Hospital continued to work to lift geographic, socioeconomic, and cultural barriers to improve the health of our community and ensure that underserved populations received the care they deserve when and where they need it.

Thanks in part to a $500,000 donation from The Edward and Mary Lord Foundation, Backus has launched a first-of-its-kind Preventive Medicine Initiative to help manage the health of Eastern Connecticut residents and prevent unnecessary hospitalizations, emergency department visits and readmissions. The initiative includes embedding a licensed clinical social worker in our health centers in Colchester and Norwichtown to address behavioral health needs and nurse care managers in all Backus health centers to work with provider teams to identify patients who are high utilizers of healthcare services and coordinate their care to prevent hospital readmission.

2015 was a year of groundbreaking and ribbon cuttings for projects aimed at increasing access to needed health services in the community. In July, hospital and local officials officially broke ground for the Backus Center for Specialty Care adjacent to Plainfield Backus Emergency Care Center at 582 Norwich Road. The planned two-story, 40,000 square foot center will be home to services, including physical rehabilitation, women’s health, cardiology, medical oncology, infusion and an ambulatory surgery center. And in March, Backus opened its new Ledyard Backus Family Health Center at 2 Lorenz Parkway, offering primary care and urgent care.

The Backus Care Van and the Backus Mobile Van logged hundreds of miles on the roads of Eastern Connecticut in 2015 to bring much needed care and education to underserved communities. Events included: Monthly blood pressure screenings and health coaching at the Sprague Community Center, a “Back-to-School Bash” at Sayles Elementary School with school physicals and Haitian Health Fair at the Taftville Congregational Church with several screenings including blood pressure, total cholesterol, random glucose and bone density.

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