Welcome to “Paying it Forward,” a monthly interview series made possible by Piedmont Health. In this series, we hear from the folks at Piedmont about the importance of community health centers – and why they chose a career in community health.
This month, Aaron welcomes Daniella Jaimes-Colina, the CEO of Piedmont Health. Originally from Venezuela, Jaimes-Colina says she fell in love with the community health model immediately – and in spite of its many challenges (more so now than ever), she’s excited to go to work every day.
“Our mission is to serve the population that has been underserved in terms of health care access and services,” she says. Piedmont Health has 11 locations around the region and they welcome all patients regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay – and she says they also expand access to health care through an “integrated” model that enables patients to get medical, dental, and mental health services all under the same roof.
“It saves you the need to visit the health facility multiple times,” Jaimes-Colina says. “In a community that has low access to transportation, this is critical.”
But it’s been a difficult year for Piedmont Health, thanks largely to government-related uncertainty. The budget impasse in Raleigh has left Piedmont with reduced Medicaid funding, and that’s been compounded by the federal shutdown as well as major funding cuts by the Trump administration. Those federal cuts are a double-edged sword, reducing resources for health providers like Piedmont even as they see a spike in demand from residents whose own safety nets have shrunk or disappeared.
“State cuts in Medicaid rates are impacting us directly right now,” Jaimes-Colina says, “and may potentially represent a deficit of $1.5 million for the next quarter, in addition to federal cuts. We’re going to continue serving the population regardless, but anything that impacts access to health care coverage impacts the patients we serve, tremendously. We’re also seeing the impact on staff: they’re in an unstable environment, and that’s creating a lot of stress: ‘is this going to impact our capacity to continue serving the population that we serve?’
“There’s (also) a lot of distrust in the community,” she adds – particularly for immigrant patients, who now have to worry that service providers may be “collecting information” for ICE agents. “So we’ve been intentional in building psychological safety, not only with the staff but also with the community – to make sure they understand that we don’t collect information or provide information. We’re (only) here to provide health services.”
But in spite of all the challenges, Jaimes-Colina says she and the staff at Piedmont Health are committed to weathering the storm – and continuing to provide the life-saving services they’ve been providing for over half a century.
“The only way to do it is together,” she says. “We have incredible staff that are here not to become rich, but because they love the mission (and) they love the community…and we have the support of many, many community partners. And that makes my work and my life easier, to know that we are going to navigate through these challenges together.”
97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news and local voices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck chats with government officials, UNC scholars, business and nonprofit leaders, area musicians, and others in our community as they share their thoughts, their experience, and their expertise on the central issues of today. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s conversations – and tune in to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” at 7:30 a.m. on 97.9 The Hill to hear those conversations live.
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