One in three Americans – or more than 100 million people – do not have a primary care physician. And for those under 35, the numbers are even more telling, as one in two is without.
The impact of this is far-reaching.
Not enough people are receiving preventative care, which is leading to a surge in chronic disease – and there is a surge of patients overwhelming the already overwhelmed emergency departments in the state.
Hackensack Meridan Health and One Medical, which is part of the Amazon network, are working to turn those numbers around.
On Tuesday, HMH and One Medical officials held a ribbon-cutting in Edgewater at the first site in the state in which the two groups will team to provide primary care.
It is the first of four North Jersey locations already scheduled to open (a spot in Jersey City is next) and the first of 20 (or more) locations the groups are planning to open in New Jersey.
HMH CEO Bob Garrett is confident the locations will have impact – mainly because they already are. Not only does One Medical have locations with other health care providers in other states, it has been serving people in Edgewater since March, when a temporary location opened.
“I’m really excited about the partnership,” he told BINJE. “The One Medical model has been proven to offer some very specialized, consumer-focused, patient-focused care. People can get an appointment on the same day, or, worst case, the next day.”
Garrett said each facility will be staffed with two doctors, both of which will see approximately 16 patients a day.
“People will spend more quality time with their primary care physician than in a typical primary care office – and it’s very personalized,” he said. “The doctor actually comes out to the waiting room and greets them and walks them through the entire process.”
While the offices will see patients who are ailing, the biggest goal will be to keep people healthy from the start. And to see them where they should be seen.
The biggest issue: Getting people to the doctor.
Garrett said teaming up with Amazon is a good start.
Those with a Prime account will have the cost of their visit cut in half. In addition, Amazon already has a great marketing team, one that knows how to reach a younger audience through social media.
Then there’s this: The offices are being designed with young people in mind, Garrett said.
“They are absolutely beautiful – and they come with plenty of power outlets,” he said. “I think they will be very appealing to young people.”
Once people get into the offices, HMH will take over.
Having locations in nearly every part of the state will enable the doctors to be able to refer patients to a nearby HMH facility if they need a higher level of care.
Garrett said he feels HMH’s extensive reach is one of the reasons why it was able to land an exclusive contract with One Medical.
HMH has a long history of making primary care a top priority – training more primary care doctors has been an impetus at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine since it opened a decade ago.
“We are incentivizing students to go into primary care,” he said.
The main reason: Proper primary care can ward off so many other issues down the road.
“Primary care is what’s really missing from American health care today,” Garrett said. “We think this provides convenient, accessible and top-quality care.
“The beauty of One Medical and Hackensack Meridian partnering is that once you get your preventative checkup, if there is something that requires specialty care, you have the vast access to specialty care at the HMH network, including our 18 hospitals.”
After opening in Jersey City, the next two sites are planned for Englewood and Hoboken.
And while it may seem like a North Jersey endeavor, Garrett said be patient: These offices will soon be up and down the state. And there will be plenty of them.
“When we signed our partnership agreement with Amazon and One Medical, we said we would do up to 20 of these centers over the next several years,” he said. “Today, the Amazon and One Medical folks were saying there may be even more than that.
“They see a good opportunity to provide even more primary care throughout the state, which is exactly what we need.”
