Just about a year ago, University Medical Center opened a clinic in Livingston, Ala.
UMC-Livingston came about through a partnership of University Medical Center, the University of Alabama, the University of West Alabama, the city of Livingston, Sumter County, Alabama Power and Alabama Power Foundation.
We all came together to talk about the need for health-care services in Sumter County, a rural area of the state that has traditionally been underserved. Consider that:
- More than 8% of Sumter County adults don’t have access to a car, and the nearest major medical center from Livingston, the county seat, is 40 miles away.
- More than 11% of Sumter County adults don’t have health insurance, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.
- 85% of UWA students receive some form of financial aid.
During the past year, UMC-Livingston has increased access to health care for individuals and families in Sumter County, as well as for UWA students, faculty and staff. The clinic also has the ability to connect the community to medical specialists and resources farther afield through telemedicine and digital resources, such as remote patient monitoring.
I believe that with the partnership created to open UMC-Livingston, we have a model that can be replicated in other rural Alabama communities that are most in need of primary care medicine. That is our mission at University Medical Center – to improve the health of individuals and communities in West Alabama.
I am also excited to share that UMC-Livingston and the work of the partnership are featured in a new video that you can access in this newsletter. Some of the comments you will hear in the video:
UWA President Ken Tucker: Being a small, regional public institution we do not have health care services on our campus. So, we need to partner with health care providers in order to ensure that our students get the quality health care services that they need … and might not have the opportunity to access otherwise.
Campbell, Chair of the Sumter County Commission: Health care has always been a major priority here in Sumter County and we just want to make sure that our citizens, our students and anyone who comes to Sumter County has the best health care that can be offered to them.
Joseph Brown, Alabama Power, Western Division Area Manager:We have an opportunity to bring about equity in this community by having health care for all. It is so important for rural communities to have a fair shake, just like any other community, with health care.
We believe UMC-Livingston is crucial in providing increased access to health care in Sumter County, and the model developed in establishing the clinic can be used to help increase access to care in other rural Alabama communities. We hope these types of partnerships continue and they must in order to restore desperately needed health care services to rural Alabama.
The College of Community Health Sciences operates University Medical Center, the UA Student Health Center and Pharmacy, Brewer-Porch Children’s Center and Capstone Hospitalist Group.