BARBARA GASTON, SASHA JENNINGS UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH, HPAM 8920 CONSULTANTS APRIL 20, 2012 How can MedLink Georgia best serve Jackson county?

Purpose of this consulting project ….To provide pertinent information and a recommendation to aid MedLink Georgia in your decision of how to best serve Jackson and Banks counties.

Purpose - revised After considering the initial findings and the fact that MedLink Georgia already has a location in Banks County, we decided to focus our project on the potential of a new clinic location in Jackson County.

Methods - Scope Within this project we have chosen to focus the scope on four main areas:  Need  Competition  Partnerships  Sustainability

Methods – Data Collection Data collection:  Qualitative  Interviews MedLink Georgia employees Pertinent entities within the communities  Quantitative  Online data sources  Data provided by MedLink Georgia

Need – Age Demographics MedLink Georgia, current patients Patient AgeJackson County – Average Age (US Census) Age 5 and under: 7.1% Age 18 and under: 26.5% Age 65 and over: 11.9% Jackson County – Projected Average Age (Georgia Power) 2015: 38.1 years

Need – Race/ Ethnicity Demographics Patient Race MedLink Georgia, current patients Jackson County (US Census) – Race White Persons: 86.8% Black Persons: 6.8% Hispanic Persons: 6.2% Although this represents the demographics of the county residents, many persons of Hispanic/Latino origin work in the area and come for recreation on the weekends.

Need – SES Related Demographics MedLink Georgia, current patients Income level Jackson County – Income level (US Census) Median Income: $51, ,050 30,65734,575 46,100 House- hold size 100% 133% 150%200% Federal Poverty Level

Need - SES Related Demographics Georgia JacksonBanks County Health Rankings data. Rankings out of correlates with the best outcomes.

Need – Health Indicators MedLink Georgia, current patients Payer mix Georgia County Guide Data Jackson County – currently has about 21% uninsured

Need – Health Outcomes County Health Rankings data. Rankings out of correlates with the best outcomes.

Need – Health Outcomes Georgia JacksonBanks County Health Rankings data. Rankings out of correlates with the best outcomes.

Need - Economic Health Jackson County  Growing  Unemployment rate is decreasing  Healthcare industry expansion  Industry is expanding  Expanding towards manufacturing and distribution companies Banks County  Declining  Healthcare industry is declining/unstable  Industry is declining  Little to no expansion

Need – Economic Health Cluster Map of Commute Shead, Where Jackson County Citizens Work Map generated by Georgia Power

Business Climate of MedLink Georgia Existing clinics  In all the surrounding areas Feasibility  What is the financial climate of MedLink Georgia? Jackson County

Possible Competition Gwinnett Clinic “We Take Pride in Your Good Health” Nurse Practitioners

Possible Partnerships Northridge Medical Center

Useful information from other consulting firms… Nichols Land and Investment Company  Consultant for Athens Regional – worked with placing Regional First Care in Jefferson  Athens Regional looked at their ER patient flow data -> patient data such as addresses to determine where to put new locations  Say that because of the down economy and uncertainty with health care reform, they will likely not branch out from urgent care within at least the next 5 years

Sustainability – Incorporating it all A – MLG Banks Co. B – MLG Hall Co. C – MLG Barrow Co. D – MLG Madison Co. E – MLG Oglethorp e Co. F – MLG Wilkes Co. G – MLG Elbert Co. H – MLG Hart Co. I – MLG Franklin Co. J – Gwinnett Clinic K – Regional First Care L – Wayne Poultry M – Northridge Medical Center * proposed future location of ML Clinic

Recommendation - Location We recommend that MedLink Georgia open a new clinic in Jackson County, near the intersection of I- 85 and Highway 129, largely for the reasons of:  proximity to industry and the relation to where workers are commuting from  the economic growth of the county  the urban sprawl from Atlanta up I-85 towards Jackson County  the need for health care services and the service gaps that could potentially be filled.

Recommendation - Location There is available property for lease near the intersection of I-85 and 129.

Recommendation - Services We recommend a general practitioner physician be on staff to serve basic primary care needs.  A multi-lingual physician and staff who can speak Spanish would be helpful. We recommend the clinic be open for operation from 7:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m. on weekdays and 7:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.  This will allow you to serve the working populations, because many will have shifts that have them getting to and from work at non-traditional hours.

Future Projects? Financial analysis How would MedLink Georgia fare financially if they opened a Jackson County location? What patient and payer mix would it take to make them self-sustaining? Marketing plan If a new clinic is to be opened in Jackson County Have a business expo fair with potential partners to generate interest and bring in business. Implementation plan for opening the new location in Jackson County Expansion of the MedLink Georgia Jackson County Clinic to include vision and dental services as well

Thank you for your time. Are there any questions? Please feel free to contact us at:  Barbara Gaston,  Sasha Jennings,

Resources Student Orientation Presentation, Ms. Angela Rouse, MedLink Georgia, 2011 Department of Human Resources website US Census website Georgia County Guide website County Health Rankings website OASIS online Georgia Power website Gwinnett Clinic website Regional First Care website Northeast Georgia Medical Center website Jackson County Chamber of Commerce Banks County Chamber of Commerce Nichols Land and Investment Company