Giving Opportunities

Geriatric Medicine

MAHEC's engagement with Geriatic Medicine began in honor of Dr. Suzanne Landis' MD, MPH commitment to quality, service, research in education and clinical care.

As a tribute to her accomplishments and her leadership in medicine in WNC and accross the state and region, we are working to advance and promote better health and well-being for older adults.

Your support of Geriatric Medicine will help MAHEC provide:

• Innovation in the care of the elderly
• Improved healthcare access for vulnerable and frail elderly
• Research efforts that contribute to the knowledge and practice of clinical geriatrics
• Enhanced services that improve the quality of life for older people living in the community with a special focus on prevention, access and primary care

Thank you for your support of Geriatric Medicine in Western North Carolina!

About Dr. Landis

Dr. Suzanne Landis is highly regarded among colleagues and community partners for her vision, innovation, research and commitment to excellent care for all patients.

Dr. Landis was the Director of the Center for Healthy Aging at the Mountain Area Health Education Center in Asheville, NC where she had an active clinical and teaching practice with the Family Medicine Residency. She practiced geriatrics at Givens Estates in Asheville and focused research efforts on changing systems of care for geriatric patients. Dr. Landis is a tenured professor in the Department of Family Medicine at UNC Chapel Hill and has mentored scores of residents and led several quality improvement initiatives and community coalitions to improve healthcare. She retired from her teaching and clinical practice at MAHEC in August 2015.

In 1995, in response to the growing number of uninsured residents of Buncombe County, Dr. Landis led a group of physicians to create Project Access, a network of volunteer physicians serving over 3,000 patients each year. The program has won numerous awards including the Innovations in American Government Award and as many as 100 communities across the country have replicated this model.

Dr. Landis has served as a National Health Service Corps physician, a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Advisor, and a Hartford Practice Change Leader.

Suzanne Landis, MD, MPH is a skilled clinician, teacher, researcher, and innovator whose work has greatly benefitted our region, state and the country.

Global Rural Health

Global Rural Health training provides unique rural training experiences abroad and in WNC with a focus on underserved populations. Your support will help establish a Global Rural Health Fellowship that will offer one year of advanced training in specialized areas to physicians who have completed their medical residency, global health training, and extended practice in rural family medicine settings in WNC with a focus on poor and marginalized patients.

By donating to Global Rural Health, you are supporting:

• Global health training experiences
• Rural medicine training in WNC
• A Fellowship at MAHEC in Global and Rural Health

Practicing family medicine in rural areas requires similar skills to international medicine and physicians must be adept at full spectrum care in an environment with few and limited resources. Rural communities in WNC experience a deficit of 140 family medicine physicians. A Global Health Fellow will serve as an important physician resource to underserved communities in WNC during their fellowship and will be well equipped for the challenges of rural medicine.

Thank you for your support of Global Rural Health in Western North Carolina!

Impact

"The global health experience at MAHEC is really a hook to inspire students to consider doing rural medicine." - Dr. Benjamin Gilmer

Reflections from a Global Health Brigade August 2015 to Camasca, Honduras

"She (the patient) told me this wonderful thing. She said, 'When I'm with good doctors my soul returns to me.' Absolutely beautiful ... It was a wonderful moment." - Family Medicine resident PGY3

"The two locations [rural Honduras and rural WNC] are surprisingly similar. Both locations, despite the physical distance that separates them, are close-knit, warmhearted communities that too have often have limited access to crucial resources." - Dr. Keith Whiteman, Family Medicine resident

"We had a Centering sick child visit. When we showed up in a village, there were about 15 moms with their 6 to 18 month old children. So we were like 'Ahhh we should turn this into a Centering group visit!' It was so cool!" - Dr. Paulette Doiron, Family Medicine resident

Maternal Health

By donating to Maternal Health, you are supporting:

• Quality care for women in WNC
• Protect the health of women and their babies through pregnancy, labor and delivery
• Provide safety net healthcare for women, regardless of ability to pay
• Ultrasound and medical equipment

Thank you for your support of Women's Health in Western North Carolina!

Project CARA

At Project CARA we provide judgment-free care to all our patients. We understand that attending medical appointments can be stressful, particularly if someone is pregnant and using substances. Our goal is to decrease the stigma surrounding perinatal substance use disorders, and to provide a safe and supportive environment for our patients to access the high quality care they deserve.

Safe Kids

Safe Kids Western North Carolina is led by MAHEC and implements initiatives such as car-seat checkups, safety workshops, and sports clinics that help parents and caregivers prevent childhood injuries.

Since 1988 Safe Kids has helped reduce the U.S. childhood death rate from unintentional injury by 61 percent. Losing one child is one too many. We're calling on everyone to come together, to raise awareness and to get involved.

Student Medical Education

By donating to Student Medical Education, you are supporting:

• Training medical residents as family doctors for WNC
• Comprehensive family health, ob-gyn and dental training by top faculty
• Expanding rural training opportunities
• Internships to recruit minorities and students with rural backgrounds
• Computer equipment for student interns
• Exposure for student leaders to health careers in WNC

Thank you for your support of Student Medical Education in Western North Carolina!

UNC Health Sciences at MAHEC

UNC Health Sciences at MAHEC is a unique interdisciplinary collaboration with the University of North Carolina, Western Carolina University, and regional community partners.

Located on MAHEC’s main campus in Asheville, UNC Health Sciences at MAHEC includes the UNC School of Medicine Asheville Campus, a master of public health program jointly led by UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and UNC Asheville, and innovative educational and research collaborations with UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and UNC Adams School of Dentistry.

The programs encourage learners to train with rural professionals, develop a deep appreciation for rural values, and contribute to improving the quality of life and health in communities across WNC.

Vulvar Clinic

The MAHEC Vulvar Clinic provides care to women throughout the region with vulvar skin conditions, genital pain and other vulvar issues. We aim to provide the most evidence based, compassionate care to help patients understand their body and how to best approach a return to wellness.

Where Needed Most

Your unrestricted gift helps MAHEC:

• Foster and lead innovation in healthcare for the benefit of Western North Carolina
• Deliver high quality primary, ob-gyn and dental healthcare
• Support and expand education and training programs for the next generation of physicians, dentists and healthcare professionals