The Community Health Reporter Program has commenced with 31 reporters across the state of Georgia. This month we are proud to highlight two of our reporters who have truly represented the mission of the program. Ms. Briana Hart, pictured left, serves Peach and Crawford counties in reporting their health care sites and providers. To date, she has contacted more than 35 health care providers who offer primary care, pharmaceuticals, and specialty health care services in these counties. Upon reflecting on her experience as a Community Health Reporter, Ms. Hart shared “One reason that I’ve found this program so beneficial to my community is during COVID, I had a lot of family members that were affected personally and in Peach County and Crawford County, I have family ties in both. And just to listen to them sit back and talk about ‘I had to go all the way to Macon or Warner Robins to see somebody.’ I’m like I know there are options closer by so knowing that I can be that person to provide them with resources close by where they don’t have to travel so far and they can get medical care or assistance quicker is one of the reasons that this [program] touched so close to home for me.”
Mr. David Floyd, pictured right, serves Liberty and McIntosh counties. For these counties, he has identified and contacted more than 23 health care providers who provide health care services in primary care, pediatrics, and dental care. As Mr. Floyd reflected on his experience as a Community Health Reporter, he shared “One of the things that I’ve learned that has been sort of interesting working in Liberty and McIntosh counties is that a lot of doctors’ offices are joint properties . . . if you have a doctor like a heart specialist that comes every Thursday or something, one of the values that I’ve added is that as a general rule, they are not a part of that practice. They have their own separate practice in another city, so be sure to list them as a separate [provider] at that particular address only on Thursdays so their actual hours of operation have value . . . to show that they are only available on Thursday in that community.”
We are grateful for the excellent work that all of our Community Health Reporters have done and were happy that we could share their stories with the communities they serve.
For more information on how you can apply to serve as a Community Health Reporter in some of our open counties, please visit: https://www.georgiaruralhealth.org/community-health-reporter/