Patient Care

SBH Health System’s Center for Comprehensive Care (CCC) provides exceptional outpatient chronic disease management for people in the community. The CCC’s separate centers for Geriatrics, Asthma, Allergy, Diabetes, and Sleep Disorders are co-located, fostering ease of access to comprehensive care.

At the CCC we teach our patients how to manage their chronic conditions so they can avoid re-hospitalization and emergency department visits, and live healthier lives. We strive to identify and eliminate barriers to care, coordinate resources, and help our clinicians better identify and care for those patients at risk, intervening to eliminate that risk whenever possible.

The CCC provides for an estimated 10,000 patient visits annually. With a central registration area, a nurse manager, a pharmacist and patient navigators assigned to each patient, the CCC provides health education, social services, mental health care, nutrition services, medication management, smoking cessation and caregiver support, in addition to diagnosis and treatment. The colocation of services and educational components of care provide important advantages.

As a certified Medical Home, the CCC meets the highest standards of care.

Here is a closer look at the separate centers:

The Asthma Center cares for children and adults with a staff that includes physicians board certified in both pulmonology and allergy, as well as a nurse practitioner, registered nurse, respiratory therapist and medical assistant.

The Asthma Center practices a team approach that combines collaboration between primary care physicians, pulmonologists, allergists, educators, respiratory therapists, nutritionists and home health care services. Once a diagnosis of asthma is confirmed, the staff (including two certified asthma educators) creates an action plan for each patient that will control and treat the condition. For children, whose asthma is controllable, the plan includes environmental management – smoke-free environment, daily medication, and medication on hand to control asthma attacks, in order to give them the highest quality of life possible.

The Senior Health Center addresses the special healthcare needs of older adults. The team, consisting of board certified geriatricians, as well as a nurse practitioner, registered nurse, and a medical assistant, performs physical, ambulation, memory, nutritional, hearing and visual screenings.

Treated are those medical conditions common to seniors: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart conditions, arthritis, emphysema and diabetes. Examined are changes in patients’ function that can impact their well-being and independence, including falls and balance issues, osteoporosis, urinary incontinence, memory loss, dementia and depression.

The Diabetes Center provides patients with education that can help them modify behavior and better manage their disease and related conditions. Directed by a board certified endocrinologist and a nurse practitioner, the team (including two certified diabetes educators) collaborates with a dietitian, primary care physician, medical assistant, clinical pharmacist and others.

The aim of the Center is to achieve optimal health status, better quality of life, and reduce the need for hospitalizations and emergency room visits. This is accomplished through diabetes self-management training that focuses on patients eating healthy, being active, monitoring their blood sugar, taking medication, and reducing risks.

The Sleep Center, directed by a physician board certified in sleep medicine, does in-hospital and at-home sleep studies, and treats both adults and children with a variety of sleep disorders. For obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition in which airflow to the lungs is disrupted while sleeping, common treatments include the use of the CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) device, which is many generations removed from the bulky and uncomfortable masks of the past, in addition to various oral devices.

About five percent of adults and children suffer from OSA. For those with type 2 diabetes the disorder is closer to 80 percent. The Sleep Center also treats patients with insomnia, parasomnias (including nightmares, night terrors and sleepwalking), narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome and other sleep disorders.

Diagnosis and Treatment of  Kidney Diseases and Hypertension