Currently, more than 21,000 Catawba County residents – totaling 16 percent of residents between ages 0-64, including nearly one in four adults – are uninsured. 

Five years ago, the Catawba County Health Assessment identified access to primary care as a major problem for Medicare, Medicaid and self-pay citizens living in our region. Since 2000, the number of Medicaid recipients alone has increased by 61 percent.  Catawba Valley Medical Center has helped break these barriers with its Catawba Valley Medical Group and by partnering with community agencies serving those in need.

Catawba Valley Medical Center has built a network of primary care practices, the Catawba Valley Medical Group, to provide community-wide access to high quality, conveniently located primary care services.  These eight practices accept patients in need of medical care regardless of their ability to pay, and they represent the majority of primary care practices in Catawba County that accept new Medicare and Medicaid patients. 

In fact, of the total number of patients they treat, 40 percent have either Medicare or Medicaid coverage.  An additional five percent have no insurance at all.  These percentages are drastically different from many of the area’s privately owned practices that limit their patient intake to 10-12 percent Medicare/Medicaid and less than three percent self-pay.

Catawba Valley Medical Center provides additional assistance through Medical Access for Catawba County (MACC), an initiative administered by the Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry.  MACC is a volunteer network of physicians working as a “safety net” to provide chronic disease management services for uninsured Catawba County residents.  Catawba Valley Medical Center physicians provide medical care to MACC-eligible patients suffering from diseases such as COPD, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension.

The medical center also participates in a successful, longstanding partnership with the Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry’s HealthCare Center.  Catawba Valley Medical Center provides nearly $90,000 per year in ancillary services at no cost to clinic patients, who are some of the most vulnerable citizens in the county.  These services include radiological tests, surgical procedures, and other therapies.

“The Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry’s HealthCare Center fills a void in our community.  With more than 20,000 uninsured individuals in our community, we provide valuable health care and support services to those in need.  On average, we help nearly 4,000 people annually with diagnostic and treatment services.” ~ Roger D. Baker, Ed.D, Executive Director, Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry