Health is shaped by more than what happens in an exam room. It’s also influenced by whether someone can make it to an appointment, communicate comfortably with their provider, find reliable information, access support, and feel understood by the people caring for them.

That’s why community is an essential part of healthcare. When healthcare organizations understand and reflect the communities they serve, care can become more accessible, more trusting, and more responsive to people’s everyday lives.

At WFMC Health, community-centered care takes many forms. This includes bilingual services, integrated behavioral health, relationship-based primary care, and group prenatal support.

Caring for the Community, Not Just a Condition

A community-centered clinic recognizes that patients often face challenges outside of their immediate health concerns. Transportation, work schedules, childcare, language differences, financial pressures, and immigration-related concerns can all affect whether someone feels able to get care.

Certified nurse midwife Devin Salazar sees the effort many patients make to even show up to an appointment.

“For a lot of the people and families I get to know, there’s a lot of barriers that they face,” she said. “People sometimes struggle with transportation to get to visits or maybe with the current immigration situation, that can be a big barrier.”

She added, “I really love and honor the fact that people like it can take people a lot of work to come to the clinic, whether it’s for Centering [Pregnancy®] or for an individual visit.”

Recognizing those barriers allows providers to approach patients with greater understanding and patience. Instead of viewing an appointment as an isolated interaction, they can also consider the external circumstances surrounding a person’s health and care.

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Trust Grows Through Familiar Relationships

Community-centered care is built over time. When patients see familiar providers and staff, they don’t have to start every visit by retelling their entire story. Their healthcare team already understands their history, celebrates progress, and can continue conversations from one appointment to the next.

Dr. Oleg Balter values that continuity in family medicine.

“I really like seeing a lot of the same people over and over again,” he said. “You can get in there and talk to them about their personal life, chitchat a little bit, and they can leave feeling like they had a good personal encounter, not just a doctor’s visit.”

Dr. Emily Nebzydoski has experienced the same benefit as she builds relationships with children and their families.

“Babies that I saw in July are now six months old,” she said in March. “It’s nice to have that with the families, already know their background, and be able to go in the room and pick up where you left off.”

Those ongoing relationships can help patients feel known not only as individuals receiving care, but as members of a shared local community.

Language and Representation are Important

People are often more comfortable discussing personal concerns when they can communicate in the language they know best. English, Spanish, Russian, Hindi, and Punjabi are just a few of the languages spoken by WFMC Health providers, making it easier for patients to receive the best care and understand their healthcare options without losing important meaning, context, or emotional nuance.

Daisy Barrios-Hani, LCSW, described the difference this can make in behavioral health.

“We have a team that is bilingual,” she explained, “so we are able to provide services in English and Spanish.”

“A lot of our patients who are monolingual Spanish speakers are able to go ahead and get really good quality therapy and interventions because of it being in their own language,” she continued.

Representation within the healthcare team can make a huge difference too. Devin described WFMC Health as “by far the most diverse health care team I’ve been a part of since being in practice.”

“We serve a really racially and socioeconomically diverse patient population,” Devin added. “I think that’s really reflected in the team here, which I really appreciate.”

Finding Strength in Shared Experiences

Community can also support better health by reminding people that they are not alone. Centering Pregnancy® brings together patients with similar due dates for extended group prenatal visits. Along with receiving care and education, participants can ask questions, learn from one another, and develop relationships during a major life transition.

“I also hear that people have found good community, which I think folks are hungry for,” Devin said. She has also heard some participants stay connected after their babies are born.

In a time when people are highly connected online but have fewer opportunities for in-person support, those relationships can be especially meaningful.

Serving the Community That Shapes You

For Miguel Gonzalez, LPC, working at WFMC Health is deeply personal. He grew up only a few blocks away and attended school in the surrounding community.

“This is my community. This is the community I grew up in,” he said. “So it’s been really a privilege being able to come back to where I went to high school, where I went to middle school, and being able to provide the services that I’m able to provide. It has been kind of a full circle for me.”

Dr. Balter also sees his work as a partnership with Salem’s community.

“I think being here as a permanent primary care doctor is being part the hardworking people of this area,” he explained. “I really appreciate that.”

A Mission Grounded in People

WFMC Health’s nonprofit mission allows its team to keep patient care and community service at the center of its work.

“Our underlying mission is not to make money, our mission is to treat the patients and to serve the community,” said Amy Whitsa, PA-C. “That’s part of what makes this place so special.”

Dr. Balter described a similar sense of purpose.

“It feels good to be part of this organization that really feels like it has its ethics going in the right direction,” he said. “Where I think a lot of things are about money, it doesn’t feel like that here. It feels like it’s more about the individuals, the people who work here, and definitely the patients.”

Better health is not created and sustained by medical knowledge alone. It grows through trust, access, communication, relationships, and a shared commitment to community. By listening to the community, reflecting its diversity, and bringing services together around patients’ needs, WFMC Health works to create care that feels connected to real lives.

WFMC Health is accepting new patients. Call today to learn more or schedule an appointment.

This blog post was first published on WFMCHealth.org.