Mother of three receives needed support from Sentara Community Care

At the end of 2022, Vilma Sandoval was living with her three children and husband in a cramped motel room in the Ocean View neighborhood of Norfolk, Va.

Sandoval was dealing with pancreatitis, diabetes, and other health issues. She was out of work because of the pandemic, and she had trouble walking.

After visiting Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, she was connected to Sentara Community Care, a recently launched initiative to expand healthcare access among those with the greatest need.

As December neared its end, Sentara Community Care staff brought her family a Christmas tree, presents, and food.

“That was really helpful,” said Sandoval. “I was really grateful.”

Sentara Community Care staff continued visiting her in the motel, helping her and her family access food, clothing, and medications. The goal? To improve their overall health and wellness.

Now Sandoval is living in a house with her family in Chesapeake, Va. She’s able to visit the Sentara Community Care Center in the nearby Berkley neighborhood of Norfolk, where she regularly sees a nurse practitioner. The center provides transportation, which is a common barrier to care. Sandoval, an immigrant from Honduras, also receives translation services.

Sandoval said Sentara Community Care has “been a big help.”

“Not only with medications,” she said, “but with food and clothing.”

Sentara Community Care offers new model of care

Since Sentara Community Care launched in the summer of 2022, the initiative has served more than 5,000 people across Virginia through a new, innovative model of care delivery that dismantles barriers to care and provides access to vital resources.

“Our focus is on the uninsured and Medicaid patients,” said Michael Charles, M.D., executive medical director of Sentara Community Care. “But we are really looking at the needs of the community itself.”

In addition to providing medical care, Sentara Community Care partners with local organizations such as shelters, faith-based groups, and food banks to address social drivers of health, which include conditions like housing, education, and nutrition. To support patients, staff provide access to resources ranging from school materials to food.

“Eighty percent of a patient's total health and well-being comes from social drivers of health,” said Dr. Charles.

Sentara Community Care also brings care directly to high-need neighborhoods by establishing new brick-and-mortar centers in those neighborhoods and by serving patients through mobile care vehicles.

Yvonne Durham, a nurse at the Sentara Community Care Center in Berkley, remembers visiting Sandoval at the motel where she was living in 2022, soon after Sentara Community Care launched. She sees her regularly at the center in Berkley. With support from Sentara Community Care, Sandoval’s health has improved, said Durham.

“Since the time we met Ms. Sandoval until the present time, she no longer requires frequent emergency department visits and hospital readmissions,” said Durham.

"Also, her diabetes is becoming more stabilized because she has better access to her medications, and we have provided her with the resources and supplies that she needs to test her blood sugars daily.”

Durham emphasized that Sentara Community Care provides a “multidisciplinary approach to healthcare.”

“We have found that if you can get a person's basic needs met, like food, clothing, and shelter, then their overall health improves,” said Durham.

Sandoval said of Sentara Community Care, “It's very important and necessary.”