Johnston Reporter

North Carolina residents financially struggling will now have access to virtual services from medical specialists and social workers from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, UNC said on June 11.

The telehealth services will be provided by the UNC Adams School of Dentistry and the UNC School of Social Work, the university said on its website. Both were launched after dental clinics on campus were closed due to the pandemic.

The telehealth services are being offered to ensure patients continue to have access to an oral medicine doctor without having to leave their home, the university said. Clinic appointments are currently offered twice a week via Zoom.

“By the time many of these medically complex patients attend their first visit with an oral medicine specialist, they have been to numerous health care providers without results,” Jamie Burgess-Flowers, a social work clinical assistant professor and dentistry faculty member, said in the announcement. “They are often overwhelmed by their symptoms, experiencing gaps in care, and their psychosocial needs have been neglected. Having a social worker there to assess for and address those needs is a true game-changer for this patient population and their oral medicine team.”

UNC’s new initiative is part of an integrated health care movement wherein physicians and mental health providers collaborate to treat patients, according to UNC.

State Rep. Donna McDowell White, on her Facebook page, said the initiative will be helpful especially for high-risk patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.