One of North Carolina's Largest Charitable Clinics First in State to Offer Clinical Trials as A Care Option to Patients

Expanding access to care for medically underserved populations

RALEIGH, N.C. - Nov. 29, 2022 - PRLog -- Alliance Medical Ministry (AMM), one of the largest free and charitable clinics in North Carolina, is partnering with Chapel Hill start-up SiteBridge Research to make clinical study opportunities more accessible to medically marginalized and underserved populations.

The partnership and collaboration aim to expand access to care for the medically underrepresented population served by the clinic. Racial and ethnic minorities are poorly represented in research. This poses a problem as individuals from different ages, races and ethnicities may react differently to medical products. Lack of diverse participation is not only a health equity issue, but the lack of meaningful data across patient populations means there is not clear evidence that new therapies for high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and other chronic health conditions are working effectively for those who may bear the largest burden of disease.

"Our patients are always at the center of what we do at Alliance Medical Ministry. With this partnership, we are stepping forward with the trusted leadership of the SiteBridge team to give our patients access to innovative care options they have never had access to and help contribute to the scientific developments that may advance the health outcomes of the communities we serve," said Pete Tannenbaum, Executive Director of Alliance Medical Ministry. "This collaboration is another big step towards advancing health equity in Wake County."

North Carolina ranks among the 10 states with the highest populations of uninsured residents in the nation. More than one million North Carolinians lack health insurance and more than 115,000 of those individuals live in Wake County alone. The 2018 North Carolina Health Equity Report indicates that African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans fare worse in access to health care compared to Whites. By providing health care access to the uninsured along with other opportunities such as access to clinical study participation and its benefits, AMM hopes to expand its efforts in decreasing the health-disparity gap.

"We will now be able to offer our patients the opportunity to explore novel treatments well before we would ever have in the past," said Dr. Edwin Burkett, family physician and Medical Director at the practice. "While not every study will be the right fit for our clinic and patients, we are committed to bringing the right treatment options to our patients, and our patient community deserves these options as much as anyone at traditional research centers. Coupled with more focused community outreach, we can address the many barriers our patient communities face and better serve them right here where we have that existing trusted relationship."

"This partnership brings two very mission-focused organizations together. In an early conversation with Pete, he said that this patient community goes well beyond lacking access to clinical studies, and that they have historically been invisible to the research community," noted Chris Komelasky, CEO and co-founder of SiteBridge Research. "I am excited that today we are stepping forward and empowering this group to become visible."

SiteBridge Research is a Community-focused Integrated Research Organization (CIRO) that helps connect physicians and their patients to clinical research and facilitates the process with their 'Trial-In-A-Box' platform by reducing barriers for sites and participants, especially underserved populations.

Alliance Medical Ministry is a free and charitable clinic serving uninsured, adult patients living in Wake County, North Carolina. Last fiscal year, AMM provided access to more than $5.8 million in prescription medications at little or no cost to its patients.

Contact

For more information about SiteBridge Research, please visit https://www.sitebridgeresearch.com/ or contact Johanne Laboy at johanne.laboy@sitebridgeresearch.com. For information about Alliance Medical Ministry, please visit https://www.alliancemedicalministry.org/ or contact Pete Tannenbaum at ptannenbaum@alliancemedicalministry.org.

Contact
Johanne Laboy
***@sitebridgeresearch.com
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