A small wired cart can go a long way for someone with medical issues who needs to carry bags of groceries on public transportation.
Not everyone would think of the cart as being tied to overall health.
But through Unity Care NW’s Hand Up for Health program, that cart is just one of the many items the Whatcom County-based nonprofit health care network provides through non-traditional medical care.
“I know that’s something that can seem so small oftentimes, but it can mean the world to a patient who doesn’t have any other way to get that sort of support,” said Shanda Strong, a Unity Care NW case manager.
The program — which is funded with a base amount of $10,000 through the provider’s 340B federal savings program, as well as community donations — offers a departure from what people think of as traditional health care. Instead, by looking at the patient’s personal circumstances and needs from a holistic view, case managers and physicians can provide medical and non-medical items that allow patients to live healthier lives.
Since the program started in 2021, Hand Up for Health has served a growing number of patients, from 24 in the first year to 40 in 2023, according to Unity Care NW. Twenty-four people have benefited from the program so far in 2024.
It also offers patients, who fall into a so-called gray area of need, the chance to get items after they’ve exhausted all options, making them feel seen and heard.
Part of Unity Care NW’s mission is to provide whole-person care, said Tamara Tregoning, the development officer at Unity Care NW. Hand Up for Health provides support that then contributes to the mission.
“A person isn’t just their teeth, a person isn’t just their brain,” she said. “Sometimes it’s not so obvious as you’re coming in for a medical visit. Sometimes there’s these additional components that are different barriers to care.”
The idea to create the program came from Tregoning and Nicole Fields, the population health manager, who wanted to find new avenues for patients who’ve exhausted options to get access to care, either because of insurance status or another financial factor, but still need help.
While Unity Care NW offers care to everyone regardless of income or insurance status, a majority of their patients are either low-income or unhoused. Because of that, they sometimes face social barriers related to health care.
Studies have found poverty is correlated to poor health outcomes. Hand Up for Health helps to ensure patients can receive equitable health care and support services.
By working closely with patients in addressing barriers in their lives, “Everyone gets the support they need to access health care,” Fields said. “So that really looks like a lot of things that aren’t traditionally thought about as health care items.”
Staff members typically refer the patient to the program after they confirm that all avenues for support have been exhausted.
On average, the items and services cost $150 per person and can range from inexpensive items, such as compression socks or dry boots for diabetic care, to more expensive services, like a set of dentures for a patient recovering from domestic violence.
Strong, who’s been at Unity Care NW for two years, worked with a visually impaired patient to get a cell phone and an app that would read out their blood glucose level so they could manage their diabetes.
Strong explained that helping a patient get access to a cell phone wouldn’t normally happen “because there have been other resources in the past that could help with that, but there was a really big, significant medical need.”
More recently, Hand Up for Health has been connecting patients with property tax or transitional housing support, ensuring they can stay in their homes and alleviating the worry of if they can afford the roof over their heads.
“If we can get our folks into stable housing, they really have a much better chance of managing chronic conditions, of being able to take their medications, take a hot shower in the morning, cook healthy food,” Fields said. “There are all these links between housing and health.”
Fields said it can be frustrating sometimes that there aren’t more services in Whatcom County to help provide more support for patients.
“That’s certainly not any kind of knock on our community partners because there are a lot of wonderful services in the community,” she said. “There are just some less traditional needs that our patients are facing that can really make a huge impact on their care.”
However, the program does have to close applications sometimes when it runs out of funds, based on what the needs have been during the year.
“Last year, we made it into quarter three,” Tregoning said. “The year before, we ran out of funds and then we had a few extra donations that squeaked us out into December.”
Donations are open through the year, with groups like Bellingham Bay Rotary and Arcora Foundation providing support in the past.
Ultimately, Strong and Fields said the patients who use a service through the program have said they’ve finally felt seen or have been offered a bright spot during a difficult time.
“The amount of times that people have been like, ‘I’ve literally tried everything’ — it’s really heartbreaking,” Strong said, adding that when patients are approved for the program there’s a sense of gratitude. “It can be a big relief when they’ve been trying to get help for, oftentimes, years.”
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
