Improving the Health of America Starts in Our Communities

One of the most rewarding parts of being a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) employee is knowing that our work is making a positive impact in the lives of millions of North Carolinians.

I’m proud to know that my colleagues—all 5,000 of them—are committed to improving the health and well-being of people across the state. That means supporting community organizations who share our common vision of a healthier, more prosperous North Carolina.

Investing in North Carolina

To truly improve health care in our state, we need to examine the drivers of health that impact our communities. That means looking at some of the non-medical factors that influence our health. We need to address external factors like access to healthy foods, safe housing, reliable transportation, and education, which play a major role in how healthy we are. 

That’s why in February 2018, we announced community investments of $50 million to support organizations that are addressing some of our state’s most challenging health issues.

Our investments support initiatives that improve access to health care, food insecurity, employment opportunities, transportation, and early childhood development programs.

Here a few examples: 

• To address the state’s nursing shortage, we made major investments in the nursing programs at four of the state’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities: North Carolina A&T, Winston-Salem State University, Fayetteville State University, and North Carolina Central University. 

 

• Blue Cross NC is contributing to TROSA, an innovative, multi-year residential program that enables substance abusers to be productive members of society by providing education, jobs, continuing care and a place to call home. With work-based training at TROSA’s own companies, these resilient men and women gain the skills they need to transition into the job market. Our investment will help TROSA expand in the Triad, improving access to services across Western North Carolina.

 

• To increase the number of health care providers in underserved areas of the state, we extended our support of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Physician Assistant program to help military veterans with medical training to make the transition to civilian health care.

 

• To improve access to health care in the rural areas of Rockingham County, Blue Cross NC and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced the UNC School of Medicine’s Primary Care Rural Advancement Program. Our investment in the program will accelerate patient-centered primary care and recruit more residents to enter health care professions in the county and neighboring rural areas.

We are proud of the investments we have made as a company, but they are just the start. We will continue to build on our momentum and work hard to become a model health plan for the nation. Learn more about our company’s work in communities in our 2018 Corporate Report.

Part of a Larger Mission

Thankfully, we are not alone in believing that everyone should have a chance to live their healthiest lives. Blue Cross NC is one of 36 Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies across the nation working to improve health and wellness in America’s communities.

To learn more about investments Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies made in 2018, read the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association’s 2018 Community Investment Report.

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