4 vital benefits of healthcare close to home: are you missing out?
This article was originally posted on WRAL
Significant medical issues, such as a heart attack or stroke, can afflict anyone at any time. In that moment of fear and concern, knowing there is a respected hospital close to home can bring a sense of safety, security, and comfort.
For the residents of Granville County and surrounding areas, that hospital is Granville Health System in Oxford. Granville Health System provides compassionate personalized care and access to top specialists ranging from cardiology to gastroenterology, reports GHS CEO Adam McConnell.
Here are four reasons why healthcare close to home is a benefit in your time of medical need:
Proximity
The last thing you want to worry about in a time of crisis is traffic. Time matters during a medical emergency, and you don’t want to waste precious minutes driving to Raleigh or Durham for treatment. For most residents of Granville County, GHS is less than 20 minutes away, McConnell says.
Close proximity also benefits individuals who don’t drive and may be reliant on others for transportation, adds Jodi Brewer, director of specialty practices at GHS. “When someone depends on family or friends for transportation, medical compliance may not be what it should be because they don’t want to bother people or can’t handle the financial burden of a rideshare to a bigger facility far away,” Brewer notes. “I believe that having healthcare close to home creates better patient outcomes.”
High-quality experts
“One of the things Granville Health System prides itself on is our world-class physicians and immediate access to all of the resources needed to deliver excellent care right here in the community,” observes Dr. Albin Abraham, a gastroenterologist with GHS. “Having a hospital in close proximity is vital to the community’s wellbeing, and that’s something that Granville Health System is able to provide.”
Having a healthcare system with high-quality staff is also important to a community’s economic development, McConnell adds. “Employers want their employees to have access to emergency medicine and more, they need their employees to be healthy,” he explains. “That’s an important part of our mission.”
From ENT and gastroenterology to urology and pediatrics, GHS has patients of every age covered from head to toe. To discover the wide range of experts at GHS, visit ghshospital.org.
Continuity of care
Because Granville Health System has the same high-quality practitioners, specialists, and services as larger facilities in neighboring counties, it is able to provide the same continuity of care – only better. “In a larger system, specialists may be booked weeks or months out, so patients here are able to receive faster access to care,” McConnell observes.
That’s often the case with cancer treatment, notes Dr. Abraham. “In a larger facility, the process of receiving care for cancer can take a really long time,” he explains. “At Granville Health System, we are a close-knit group of physicians and specialists who are often able to see a patient within a week, which is frequently impossible at a larger hospital.”
Additionally, many specialists are conveniently located at the GHS main campus: 1010 College Street in Oxford. Not only does the close-knit campus help patients cut down on confusion when being referred to a specialist, but it allows for a feeling of familiarity for patients going through a difficult time.
Compassionate care from neighbors you know
Oxford is a small community, so chances are good that some of the people you interact with at GHS are neighbors or friends. Smiles greet you at the door and this friendly, compassionate, small-town attitude continues through every aspect of your care. “Probably the most valuable thing about a community hospital like Granville Health System is the people who work there,” says McConnell. “They treat our patients as they would a neighbor, so there’s real attention and a personal touch to every interaction.”
Brewer agrees, adding, “Our staff often take care of people they know personally, so they bring a family approach to care. They really relate to their patients.”
