Caring for the community

The Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC) has been offering a free clinic to address the health needs of locals in Carrboro, N.C., and the UNC-Chapel Hill community for almost 50 years.

And co-director Alex Sherman said it is just getting started.

SHAC is a collective of students from all of the medical schools at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. What began as part of the Civil Rights Movement in 1967 to serve the uninsured has expanded, Sherman said, and shifted to local outreach. Since then, SHAC has seen volunteers increase; thousands of students now donate their time to the clinic every year.

“Multi-disciplinary health is really where healthcare is moving in general, and SHAC is on the forefront of that,” said Matt Givens, director of the Wednesday night clinic.

One of SHAC’s expansion programs is Bridge to Care, which aims to meet the needs of patients with chronic diseases until they are able to obtain consistent primary care.

“What we found was that it could take up to six months for a patient to get in to see a provider in the community,” said Bridge to Care Coordinator Laura Cone. “So we meet the needs by providing care in the clinic, as well as group visit sessions for patients during that period.”

SHAC has also launched initiatives such as Health for Habitat, Beyond Clinic Walls and the Refugee Health Initiative. In addition, Cone’s unit is looking to expand into mental health.

The SHAC clinic, which offers medical, dental, pharmaceutical care and more operates by appointment on Wednesday nights between 5:30 and 8:00 p.m. Patients do not need to meet any qualifications to sign up. More information can be found at http://www.med.unc.edu/shac.