Health and well-being are central to creating a community’s economic vitality. That’s why Brian Floyd, chief operating officer of ECU Health and president of ECU Health Medical Center, joined a group of statewide health care leaders at the NC Chamber Health Care Conference in a panel titled “Working Together to Create Healthier Communities” last Sept. 14 in Durham.
“Thinking about the NC Chamber and what we’re here to talk about today, it’s important to remember that North Carolina is the second largest rural state in the country,” Floyd said. “One-in-three people in North Carolina live in a rural community so rural health care is a critical and highly personal endeavor. At ECU Health, we take seriously our mission to improve health and well-being in eastern North Carolina, which is a region with some of the highest levels of poverty in the state.
ECU Health is a leader in rural health care, Floyd said, and is constantly exploring new ways to improve access to care in rural communities. Speaking on topics such as improving mental health resources, working closely with schools, colleges and universities and investing in the health and well-being of team members, Floyd explained that ECU Health’s role in East goes beyond health care delivery.
“ECU Health is a health care provider, an educator and an economic engine for our 29-county region and we understand that collaboration is key to solving health care challenges. health,” Floyd said. “When I think about what we do, the reason we have a 974-bed hospital in a city of over 80,000 people is because of the serious burden of disease in the communities we serve. The improving quality and cost is our goal and our clinical care side certainly plays a role in that, but we know that value is created by improving health through initiatives that focus on social determinants in health.
Floyd was joined on the panel by Dr. Art Apolinario, board president of the NC Medical Society, Dr. Creagh Milford, senior vice president of retail health for CVS Health and Jennifer Sacks, associate director of clinical operations program lead for Biogen. The panel was moderated by Gary Salamido, president and CEO of the NC Chamber.
