‘Paying It Forward’ with Piedmont Health’s Fabiola Chavez

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.

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 Fabiola Chavez, a 30-year veteran of Piedmont Health who’s been working there since 1995 after first going there as a patient in her childhood. Now, she’s the patient care coordinator at the Scott Community Health Center in Burlington.

“The staff, the doctors, we are all there to help serve the patient and make sure they get the service they need,” Chavez says. “I think that’s what’s kept (me) going: the compassion and the care for the community and the patients.”

Chavez remembers going to Piedmont Health’s Prospect Hill location as a child, along with her parents, who were agricultural workers in Person County. Now on the other side of the desk, she says she’s excited about extending that same care and compassion to new generations of patients – including those who can’t speak English.

“When I started, (we had very few) Spanish speakers,” she says. “So to see them come in (now) and see a familiar face and say, “habla Espanol?” and I say “Si” – just their face of happiness and comfort…

“And it’s wonderful now that we have all these different technologies that allow us to be able to communicate better – not just with Spanish speakers, but Vietnamese or any other language. It’s just wonderful to see.”

And Chavez says it’s wonderful in general to work at Piedmont Health – where the staff is ready and available to help with any medical concern that walks in the door.

“Three years ago, a man came in and came straight to me and said, I really need to be seen. I’m having a meltdown,” she remembers. “I (stayed) with him, with tears coming down, (until) our behavioral health counselor took him back. But it was a wonderful gratifying feeling (when) he came out and thanked me. That was wonderful…

“He sought the help, (and) I said, ‘you’re at the right place.’ So don’t be afraid: we’re here to help and assist in any way we can. Definitely give us a call.”

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