Since the grand opening of its new Lower West Side facility in September 2017, Greater Buffalo United Accountable Healthcare Network (GBUAHN) has been growing by leaps and bounds. As of Friday, February 1 of this year, the healthcare network has enrolled a whopping 8000 members.
The incredible growth is being attributed to myriad factors. Not only did GBUAHN build state of the art facilities, the Lower West Side campus is also conveniently located in a neighborhood that serves its primary client base. GBUAHN’s new multi-million dollar medical facility at 505 7th Street (learn more), is located directly behind 564 Niagara Street, Building 2.
GBUAHN acknowledges that its continued growth is partially due to its convenient location. But it also states that its clients appreciate the effort that goes into helping them to navigate the oft-complex Medicaid system. GBUAHN has also been making significant strides in ensuring that its patients have access to maintenance care for chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure. With the help of dietitians, and other health oriented resources, the goal is to keep patients healthy, rather than seeing them rolling through the door for emergency visits. The result from all of these initiatives is a tripling of size of the healthcare network over the last five years.
“This increase to over 8,000 members is monumental in such a short span of time,” said Raul Vazquez, M.D., GBUAHN CEO. “However, this is just the beginning for us. We are passionate about helping our members, and GBHUAHN will make sure that we have the resources to continue to provide phenomenal services for Medicaid recipients.”
To become a GBUAHN member, one must be a Medicaid recipient and have two or more chronic health conditions, and/or a serious mental illness/substance abuse. Clients are assisted in obtaining access to health care services, and are also directed to community resources including food pantries, housing, and social services programs such as the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
According to GBUAHN, its health initiatives and programming are also a benefit to taxpayers. Patients are able to access preventive care via a primary physician, along with maintenance care for chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, and high blood pressure. Those two factors result in decreases in expensive emergency room visits, which directly results in decreased Medicaid costs.