Mode of Program Participation
Community Organizing and Educational Programming
Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Creating Community Health Centers Across an Appalachian Cultural Quilt
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
This presentation is about the cultural and organizational challenges faced in establishing the Appalachian Mountain Area Community Health Centers. Implemented over the past 18 months in ten locations across the mountains of Western North Carolina, from Asheville to Murphy, the centers serve Black, White, Cherokee and Hispanic clients in both urban and rural mountain settings. Some sites focus on homeless people, while all provide care to the underserved. This overview of the AMCHC’s creation provides a case study of the paths of competition and cooperation between hospitals, health departments and primary care providers amid the rhododendron thickets of federal, state and institutional funding and regulations. The paper also describes the very difficult challenges faced by AMCHC’s community-based board of directors.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Tom Plaut is the board treasurer for the Appalachian Mountain Area Community Health Centers and a co-coordinator for Regional Studies at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNC-Asheville. A former ASA president and recipient of the Williams/Brown Service Award, he is a Professor of Sociology Emeritus of Mars Hill University.
Creating Community Health Centers Across an Appalachian Cultural Quilt
This presentation is about the cultural and organizational challenges faced in establishing the Appalachian Mountain Area Community Health Centers. Implemented over the past 18 months in ten locations across the mountains of Western North Carolina, from Asheville to Murphy, the centers serve Black, White, Cherokee and Hispanic clients in both urban and rural mountain settings. Some sites focus on homeless people, while all provide care to the underserved. This overview of the AMCHC’s creation provides a case study of the paths of competition and cooperation between hospitals, health departments and primary care providers amid the rhododendron thickets of federal, state and institutional funding and regulations. The paper also describes the very difficult challenges faced by AMCHC’s community-based board of directors.
