Campbell medical school cuts ribbon on new station house

Rainy, chilly weather barged in and broke a pleasant streak of fall warmth, shades of gray replacing a familiar bright blue.

A day to stay inside, to shelter from the wet cold.

A perfect day to celebrate a ribbon-cutting.

“I couldn’t have picked a better day to have this, despite it raining outside, because this is exactly what this building is for,” said Dr. Brian Kessler, a founding member of the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine (CUSOM) and former dean.

Kessler, now dean of the Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine in Hagerstown, Maryland, returned to Campbell on Friday, Nov. 21, to help cut the ribbon on a 6,000-square-foot station house, which will be home to four Mobile Health and Education Clinics, delivering crucial healthcare services to migrant farmworkers in Harnett, Duplin, Johnston and Sampson counties in eastern North Carolina. The station, too, includes three offices for staff, a large storage area for supplies needed for the units and a meeting room.

But it’s more than a building, said Dr. David Tolentino, interim dean of the med school.

So much more.

“It’s a promise, a promise that the Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine will continue to live out its mission to serve the rural and underserved in North Carolina, the Southeast and the nation.”

Tolentino thanked those in attendance and welcomed the speakers, including Campbell President Dr. William Downs; N.C. Sen. Jim Burgin, R-Harnett; Kessler, Dr. Joe Cacioppo and Dr. Jerry M. Wallace, a former Campbell president for whom the medical school is named.

“The students of Campbell, they were the people who said, ‘We want to do this.’ I remember it so well,” said Wallace. 

He spoke about the beginnings of the med school, when the healthcare students treated people in what they then called the infirmary, which was sufficient yet small.

“Now, I’m sure that that charter class … when they come back and visit here, will be just astounded at what they started and what has expanded so much,” Wallace said. “And there have been many, many people here to make that happen.”

Wallace talked about Campbell’s Christian heritage, its Christian mission and values.

“Doing things for the glory of God has changed the world since the birth of Christ,” he said. “It is the result of the Christian perspective that hospitals were built, that universities were founded, that orphanages took place, out of the compassion of the church. And so in that tradition came Campbell University.”

The volunteer-based clinic, established in 2014 within the med school, is composed of physicians and physician assistants who oversee teams of medical, physician assistant and pharmacy students.

Funded by a grant, about $1.4 million, from the N.C. General Assembly, as well as about $75,000 from Campbell, the station house provides cover and added security for the four mobile clinics, which are essentially mobile hospitals.

“This will be transformational, not only for the students and the educators, but definitely the community that surrounds it,” said Kessler, who said the station was born, in part, after he noticed a new firehouse under construction near Fuquay-Varina.

“Wouldn’t that be cool if we had something similar here?” Kessler remembers asking Cacioppo a few years ago.

Cacioppo is director of Community and Global Medicine at the medical school. He long saw the need to protect the valuable mobile clinics from the North Carolina heat, sun and rain. He stepped to the podium and immediately referenced Sir William Osler, considered by many to be the father of modern medicine.

“‘A good physician treats the disease, and a great physician treats the patient who might have the disease,’” said Cacioppo, quoting Osler.

“Here at CUSOM, that is our goal. Our goal is to treat the patient, the whole patient.”

A goal of medical students from the start of the clinics was reaching the migrant worker, among the most marginalized people in our community, Cacioppo said.

Some 150,000 migrant workers and their families reside in North Carolina each year, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Their work is oftentimes dangerous and physically demanding, and yet they face myriad obstacles in accessing adequate healthcare.

Cacioppo has cited estimates of 6,000 to 7,000 undocumented workers in Harnett County. In neighboring Duplin County, he estimates that between 11,000 and 12,000 migrant and seasonal workers, as well as their families, have limited or no access to quality healthcare.

Working days that often run long into the evening and accessing reliable transportation are paramount among those barriers.

“These workers have virtually no access to healthcare,” he has said.

Today, the Campbell University Community Care Clinic is funded through myriad grants, yet it also largely relies on private donations and other support, such as fundraising events. The clinic offers free visits, lab work, imaging and medications to people who would not otherwise have access to health care, on campus and via mobile medical units. The clinic sees only uninsured patients, living at or below 250 percent of the U.S. poverty line.

It’s the only such clinic in the country run solely by students, with some faculty oversight.

That first year in the clinic, the Campbell teams saw 237 patients. This year they’ll surpass 1,700, Cacioppo said during the ceremony.

During the COVID pandemic Campbell obtained a $6 million grant and acquired the mobile units. A reputation of a caring attitude from students and a commitment to reach the rural and marginalized community influenced decision makers and garnered the funds, Cacioppo points out.

“With that, we were able to start going every Monday and Wednesday nights out to the farm workers themselves,” he said. “We brought the care to them, so that we could actually see them face to face and treat the patients.” 

Treating people on a regular basis, the team saw dramatic declines in patients with uncontrolled diabetes, with hypertension and other chronic conditions.

“Now, 90 percent of our patients have their blood pressure under control, and that’s all because of the hard work of CUSOM students and the availability of these buses,” Cacioppo said. 

The med students receive no academic credit for working in the clinics. They often travel long distances and work late into the night.

No matter.

They volunteer because they care about the community, their patients. 

“They want to serve. They want to help these people in this community. They really, truly care about the patient and treating the disease that they may have,” Cacioppo says.

Said Tolentino, “We are committed to serving these communities with compassion, excellence and innovation. 

“Since matriculating our first class in 2013, CUSOM has worked tirelessly to close gaps in healthcare access. From community clinics and mobile outreach in Harnett County to global health missions in places like Guatemala, Ghana and the Dominican Republic, our students and faculty have embraced the call to serve wherever the need is greatest. 

“These experiences shape osteopathic physicians who understand that medicine is not just about science, it’s about humanity,” Tolentino said. “The station house here represents the next chapter in this story. 

“It is the shelter, the home base, the mission control, if you will, for our vehicles that all together will serve as a hub for care, education and collaboration, a place where ideas turn into action, where barriers to health are broken down,” Tolentino said before expressing “my deepest gratitude to our faculty, staff, students, partners and community members who made this possible.

“It truly takes a village, and we will be ever grateful to our friends in the community.”

Burgin, who represents Harnett County, was heavily involved in securing money to build the station house. He praised people such as Britt Davis, former Campbell vice president for Advancement, Wallace and myriad others.

“I’m so proud of Campbell,” said Burgin, who pointed out this was the first ribbon-cutting ceremony for Downs, who became Campbell’s sixth president in July.  

“I hope this is the first of many for you,” he said to Downs. “This university needs to continue to grow. I challenge you to look for ways, (and) I will help you any way I can. Campbell’s really important. We want Campbell to grow. Let me help you to help Campbell grow.”

A ribbon-cutting ceremony, Downs said, is a sign that people are daring to dream — about things that are new, things that are better and things that are different. 

“The ribbon cutting is a sign that people are delivering on those dreams.” 

The ceremony for the station house is particularly special, Downs said, because it aligns so closely and so clearly with Campbell’s mission.

The mission statement, he said, obligates the university to provide students with opportunities for servant leadership and community engagement, with an emphasis on underserved communities. 

“That’s our charge. That’s our challenge.

“This station house, the mobile units it will protect, help us fulfill that commitment. Help us fulfill that promise to engage the community through servant leadership. We know that the healthcare needs of our region are real and that they weigh heavily on those who struggle with access and cost,” Downs said. 

“We also know that mobile health education can aid in prevention and increase the kind of early intervention that helps save lives. So, this is all a profoundly good thing; connecting people, no matter where they are, no matter what their means, connecting them with health care and with health education.”

He offered a quote by Winston Churchill: “‘We shape our buildings, thereafter, they shape us.’” 

“How true,” Downs said. “All the effort to imagine and design this facility … but from this day forward, this building will shape us.”