An Outpouring of Community Support
Local Patient Found Access to Care Onboard the Bus Sandy Hancock of Smithfield was feeling down on his luck after getting a spate of bad news. In September, while visiting family in Scotland, he learned his employer had gone out of business. Hancock lost his job, health insurance and the vacation pay he thought was in the bank. Even worse, the results of a CT scan from months earlier showed a spot on his lung. He hadn’t been feeling well and thought the scan, a promotional fee-for-service o er, might yield a quick answer. While the company alerted him about the results, it never sent them to his physician for follow-up care. “I felt so overwhelmed. I was depressed,” he says. “I didn’t know what to do or where to start.” Through his daughter, Hancock heard about UNC Health Johnston’s community outreach program and the bus that traveled to di erent sites to o er acute and preventive care. It would be at Johnston Community College the next day, so he showed up and stepped on board. Leah Johnson, the community outreach coordinator, did an initial screening that day for lung cancer. And by week’s end, he had a lung cancer diagnosis, an appointment to see the medical oncologist, and the full attention of a medical assistance counselor who helped him apply for disability and other financial assistance. “I felt like I won the lottery,” he said during an interview in October. “Suddenly, I had all these wonderful people working to help me.” Access to health care is one of the greatest needs in Johnston County. And the community outreach program aims to remove barriers and meet people where they are, Johnson says. On board the bus, Johnson o ers preventive care, from glucose and heart screenings to flu shots. And on certain days, she opens a virtual urgent care clinic for those who lack insurance coverage. On other days, Morgan Lassiter, community outreach specialist, facilitates youth mental health counseling sessions onboard the bus and at other sites. The services, o ered through the UNC Health School of Medicine, aim to meet yet another top need for mental health care in the county. Hancock says he’s grateful to Johnson and UNC Health Johnston for the great care he’s continuing to receive in and outside the hospital. “Everyone from the doctors to the nurses to the food services team are just amazing,” he adds. And it all started with getting onboard the bus.
Barb Grimes and Kat McKinnon work side by side in palliative care at UNC Health Johnston. But at the annual Gobble Waddle race, they split up. Grimes speedwalks the 5K course while McKinnon runs the 10K. They enjoy competing, but it’s the two causes that bring them out. HealthQuest Fitness and Wellness Center puts on the race the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This year’s proceeds went toward
Kat McKinnon and Barb Grimes
scholarships to Healthy Families, an exercise and nutrition education program o ered at HealthQuest. And donations from the food drive, a mainstay of the event, went to local food pantries and the SECU Hospice House. “I enjoy supporting HealthQuest and the community where I work,” says McKinnon, a social worker. “We see patients and families who struggle with getting the basics, especially food.” Grimes, a nurse, feels passionately about staying active and eating a wholesome diet. “I like that the Healthy Families program strives to instill a healthier lifestyle,” she says. “We know proper nutrition is key to preventing chronic disease and illness.” How great is the need? In its 2024 report based on 2022 data, Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks and pantries, estimates 12.7% of Johnston County’s population is food insecure. That’s roughly 28,000 people. Food insecurity is such a concern that the hospital’s community engagement council joined forces with HealthQuest this year to collect food. Together, their e orts brought in 1,615 pounds, a 42% increase over the prior year. No one may be happier with the results than Barbara Narron, a HealthQuest fitness instructor who came up with the idea for the race and its catchy name 16 years ago. “I enjoy seeing how the event has grown from 30 participants that first year to 369 this year,” she says. “And I love that it’s become a Thanksgiving tradition. One of our runners even said it felt like coming home.”
At left and right, Maria Diaz, eligibility
specialist, and Leah Johnson,
community outreach coordinator, visit with their patient, Sandy Hancock.
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