George Bond, MPH
Health Director, Buncombe County who helped create Project Access.

Play Video: Low Speed - High Speed Free REAL Player is Required

George F. Bond, Jr., MPH, was appointed in January 1996 as the Health Director of the Buncombe County Health Center, a position he still holds today. As one of the first non-physician health officers appointed in North Carolina, he has blazed a trail of visionary leadership, collaborative partnerships, and effective advocacy that support the provision of quality individualized health care and improved systems of care. In Buncombe County, he directs the operations and policy functions for one of the largest local health departments in North Carolina, a department that combines traditional public health responsibilities with a major Primary Care operation - including Adult and Child Health, Dental, Lab, Pharmacy and Integrated Behavioral Health. Through his leadership, the Buncombe County Health Center has become the primary care home for 18,000 indigent patients receiving more than 40,000 visits each year, and provides health care services to non-English speaking patients in their native tongue through bilingual providers and staff interpreters. As the Health Director for Buncombe County, George Bond has established and sustained public health system improvements and reforms that increase the provision of high quality, cost-effective services to the medically underserved in Buncombe County and across North Carolina. These initiatives include the following:

Project Access. Buncombe County's Project Access - recipient of both Ford Foundation and John F. Kennedy School of Government's "Innovations in Government Award" and a "Model Practice" award by the National Association of City and County Health Officials - is an indigent care initiative that combines the best of public and private health care delivery systems. George Bond has been a leader in this cooperative effort involving over 90 percent of the County's physicians, Mission Hospitals, area churches, and community providers who collectively provide comprehensive health care for the medically uninsured. Qualifying patients receive an "insurance" card and donated services in a private provider's office. The success of Project Access is reflected in its replication in over 23 communities in 15 states. An additional 29 communities are in the process of implementation, and another 129 are known to be investigating possible opportunities.

Sustained Partnerships : George Bond brings key stakeholders together to improve health. The Health Center's Pharmaceutical Assistance program dispensed over $4 million in free medications from pharmaceutical companies to eligible individuals in fiscal year 2004. In late November 2005, the Buncombe County Health Center became the first local health department in the nation to partner with a tertiary care hospital (Mission Hospitals) in successful initiation of an Electronic Medical Record (Cerner). Currently, George Bond is also leading a Safety Net Provider's initiative that is exploring information technology and systems as a vital link in health care.

Expanding Scope of Public Health Work : Thanks to George Bond, Buncombe County now has a Public Health Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) not for profit entity. The Foundation allows the community to compete for grants and to receive charitable contributions to improve public health. In its first two years, over $200,000 passed through the Foundation to promote health initiatives for the underserved. One tangible role the Foundation assumes is a food pantry that supplies non-perishable food and fresh produce to needy Health Center patients. Last year, 23,000 pounds of food and almost 49,000 pounds of produce were provided to 3,113 Health Center patients and family members, as well as to 2,131 Health Center class participants. Were it not for the capacity established through the Buncombe County Public Health Foundation under George Bond's leadership, these basic health and nutrition needs of these individuals and families might go unmet.