Mission Statement
To improve the health of the community by providing the highest quality preventive and primary health care services to individuals and families who need access to these services.
Brief History
Piedmont Health Services, Inc., (PHS, Inc.) was organized and incorporated on March 11, 1970 as Orange-Chatham Comprehensive Health Services, Inc. It was organized to provide comprehensive health care services and education to all segments of the community, with special emphasis directed to that segment of the population receiving inadequate health care and/or whose access to services had been restricted.
The original funding for the agency was received from the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). The objectives of the organization under the auspices of the OEO included health care delivery, community development, environmental health, social services, and other anti-poverty activities. Indigent, nonprofessional individuals who were selected from communities surrounding each health center, were provided with training and put to work. All of the professional staff were employees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and were made available for provision of services for PHS, Inc. by contract. Dr. Glenn Pickard was one of the founding professional staff.
These broad objectives were pursued under OEO auspices and funding until the mid 70's when the program was shifted to Health Education and Welfare (HEW). Under the HEW sponsorship, the objectives of the program were narrowed to conform with the policies of the funding source. The program began to relinquish all of its anti-poverty objectives and activities and to trim its staff to conform with the different standards inherent in the transition from OEO to HEW.
This change required the program to transform its productivity standards
and expectations as well as its perception of its role in the community.
The narrowed goals eliminated social services, community development, and
job training aspects and concentrated on the health services component.
The program and its funding were then switched to the Department of Health
and Human Services. There has been an increased focus on efficiency,
improved productivity, quality, and more integration into the total health
care system. There is an increased effort to move the funding from reliance
on the federal government to other sources.