St. James-Santee Family Health Center | Providing access to health care with compassion

On any given day, myriad patients walk into St. James-Santee Family Health Center locations looking for care.

Many have diabetes, hypertension, asthma or other conditions, but they don’t have insurance, are underinsured or have no other means to pay for the health care they need.

St. James-Santee welcomes them all. It’s the not-for-profit organization’s mission to provide access to comprehensive, high-quality, primary health care services with compassion and respect.

It’s a mission that couldn’t align better with the purpose of Tidelands Community Care Network. St. James-Santee was the first to sign on to the network when it started and continues to be a crucial partner in helping reach the shared goal of providing access to medical care for uninsured and underinsured residents.

“We were there from the very beginning,” said Sandra Gilliard, CEO of St. James-Santee Family Health Center. “It’s grown into something so much larger.”

The network, created by Tidelands Health in partnership with Access Health SC and The Duke Endowment, has grown to about 25 partners including health educators, state agencies, transportation providers, primary and specialty care providers and others who can help uninsured residents have access to medical care.

“It is just that key,” Gilliard said. “I see it as an extension of what we do.”

With six locations, St. James-Santee serves more than 11,000 residents a year in Georgetown, northeastern Charleston and southeastern Berkeley counties. St. James-Santee, designated a Federally Qualified Community Health Center, receives federal grants to provide services to everyone, regardless of ability to pay.

The center provides medical and behavioral health services, as well as transportation, outreach services, health education and more.

Patients served through Tidelands Community Care Network benefit from the center’s services, including primary care, transportation to medical appointments, therapy for patients coming off opioids and other services.

“It seems natural that St. James-Santee Family Health Center partnered with us from the very start of the Tidelands Community Care Network,” said Kelly Kaminski, director of community health resources for Tidelands Health. “We both have the same goal: helping the uninsured and underinsured have access to needed health care. That shared vision has made us strong partners from the very start.”

Tidelands Community Care Network helps connect the St. James-Santee patients to specialty care and provides them with access to health education and chronic condition management for those who need more intensive support.

“Through this network, we are able to tap into resources for the uninsured and underinsured,” Gilliard said. “That’s a major asset to St. James-Santee Family Health Center.”

Gilliard sees that partnership continuing to evolve as the community grows.

“Definitely I see us continuing to work with the network and come up with new ways of meeting the needs of the community,” Gilliard said.