AndHealth, Lower Lights Health and Other Partners Present Community of Healing: Portraits from the Whole-Person Specialty Care Movement with Photography by Tariq Tarey
COLUMBUS, OH – A new exhibition entitled Community of Healing: Portraits from the Whole-Person Specialty Care Movement will begin its 3-week run on July 17th at Lower Lights Health at 1160 W Broad Street in Columbus. This gallery features commissioned work by award-winning Columbus documentary photographer Tariq Tarey and showcases more than 30 portraits of patients that have overcome chronic illness. Also featured are the clinicians and healthcare leaders that supported these patients through the Whole-Person Specialty Care Model which is poised to radically improve access and outcomes in our healthcare system for medically underserved and chronically ill patients.
The exhibition has been produced by AndHealth in partnership with Community Health Centers (CHCs) and Hospitals and Health Systems including Lower Lights Health, OhioHealth, Third Street Family Health Services, Jane Pauley Community Health Center, PrimaryOne Health, and more. The patients featured have all been cared for in collaboration between AndHealth and its partners under the Whole-Person Specialty Care Model, which removes barriers to health access and outcomes and is available to all people regardless of demographic, socioeconomic background, or insurance coverage. This model of care offers a path to reverse the growing chronic disease burden and to make health a human right for everyone.
“Tariq’s work beautifully captures the dignity and humanity of patients–each of whom are the heroes of the Whole-Person Specialty Care Model,” said Matt Scantland, Founder + CEO of AndHeath. “Today our country is navigating a specialty care access crisis, leaving countless people without the help they need to be well. These patients have shown us that amazing progress is possible, and they inspire hope in us all.”
The specialty access crisis threatens all people, but especially the medically underserved population that CHCs serve. Among this population, 70% of patients cite affordability and transportation challenges in accessing specialty care, and 50% of specialty referrals are never even completed. These care gaps leave patients exposed to disease progression, needless suffering, and escalating costs for our healthcare system. The Whole-Person Specialty Care model has been designed to address this crisis and achieve strong outcomes for patients who may otherwise have inadequate access to care by incorporating high-quality specialty care alongside support for root causes and Social Drivers of Health (SDoH), such as medically tailored meal delivery, support for behavioral health, sleep, movement, remote monitoring, and continuous access to providers and health coaching—all directly within the medical home that can best meet the needs of this unique population.
The Whole-Person Specialty Care model provides CHCs with more patients, more clinical capabilities, and sustainable reimbursement and funding by allowing them to deliver first-line specialty care and pharmacy at the patient’s point of need: in their community at a health center, and in their home with convenient virtual options that remove transportation and logistics barriers to fully participating in care.
“The Whole-Person Specialty Care Model in partnership with AndHealth allows us to offer a whole-person approach to complex care that used to require external referrals, which can subject patients to affordability and logistics issues that impact access and outcomes,” said Tracy Cloud, CEO of Lower Lights Health.
Charleta B. Tavares, CEO of PrimaryOne Health added, “We recognize that better health outcomes happen when you treat the whole person, including addressing the Social Drivers of Health. By layering specialty care into our continuum of services, we can now support even more facets of our patients’ health in an accessible, culturally appropriate, and convenient manner.”
Hospitals and Health Systems are recognizing the benefits of collaboration with Community Health Centers through the Whole-Person Care Model. Dr. James O’Brien, VP of Population Health at OhioHealth said, “We are so excited to work with CHCs to offer whole-person specialty care through our Clinically Integrated Network that includes leading CHCs. Together, we can make radical improvements to serve patients.
The exhibition is hosted at Lower Lights Health, one of Central Ohio’s leading CHCs and is free of charge. It will be open to the public on Thursday, July 25th from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, Friday, August 2nd from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm, and Thursday August 8th, from 3:30 pm to 7:00 pm at 1160 W Broad Street in Columbus.
To view the gallery online, visit AndHealth.com/Gallery.
About Tariq Tarey
Tariq Tarey is a documentary photographer based in Columbus, Ohio, skilled in both still photography and filmmaking. His work focuses on New Americans, refugees, and the human experience of facing and overcoming challenging circumstances.
In 2006, Tariq’s photographic exhibit, Forlorn in Ohio, which documented the plight of Somali refugees, appeared at the Kiaca Gallery and Wright State University. Tariq’s exhibition “Bhutanese-Nepali Neighbors” was on display at the Ohio History Connection throughout 2017 and was nominated for the Community Arts Partnership Award by the Greater Columbus Arts Council. In 2018 “Bhutanese-Nepali Neighbors” exhibit won the Ohio Museums Associations best of show. He currently has exhibitions showing at the Rutherford B. Hayes Museum in Freemont, Ohio and at Otterbein University. Several of his images now belong to the permanent collection of the Columbus Museum of Art.
Tariq directed “Women, War and Resettlement: Nasro’s Journey,” which was aired on WOSU Public Television in 2012. Moreover, Tariq’s film, “The Darien Gap,” was shown in the 2nd United States Conference on African Immigrant and Refugee Health. Among Tariq’s honors are the South Side Settlement House’s Arts Freedom Award in 2006 and the Ohio Art Council’s Individual Artist Award in 2008 and in that same year Tariq won the Greater Columbus Art Council’s Individual Artist Award.
About Lower Lights Health
Lower Lights Health is a Christian based, Federally Qualified Health Center and 501 (c) (3) non-profit providing the highest quality health care to all – regardless of the ability to pay. We connect all aspects of health and wellness to provide patients with total care. Lower Lights Health serves over 15,000 patients from 7 sites in central Ohio. We welcome and serve all members of the community with dignity and respect.
Lower Lights Health….We are Beyond Health Care.
To learn more, visit llchc.org.
About AndHealth
AndHealth helps Community Health Centers (CHCs) radically improve access and outcomes for patients in specialty care and specialty pharmacy, while becoming an even larger and more clinically integrated part of our healthcare system. This Whole-Person Community Care Model provides everything CHCs need to deliver in-house specialty care and specialty pharmacy, built for the unique needs of our medically underserved populations.
The model provides CHCs with more patients, more clinical capabilities, alignment with health systems, and sustainable reimbursement and funding that restores the integrity of the patient’s medical home and their critical reimbursement model—both having shifted away from CHCs through external specialty referrals and contract pharmacies. In restoring this integrity, CHCs can tear down barriers to care and stretch scarce federal resources to reach more patients with comprehensive services that weren’t possible before and that are desperately needed by patients.
Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, AndHealth is led by former CoverMyMeds co-founder and CEO Matt Scantland and the team that built Ohio’s first healthcare technology unicorn, who have dedicated their lives to transformative innovation that improves access for patients. AndHealth is supported by key investors including the American Medical Association’s innovation subsidiary, Francisco Partners, and the state of Ohio’s economic development organization. To learn more, visit AndHealth.com.
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