Center for Excellence in Rural Health

Estill County Project

The Kentucky Homeplace program has hired a new family health care advisor to help link medically underserved Estill Countians with available health and social services.

Courtney Barnes’ office is housed within the emergency department at Marcum & Wallace Memorial Hospital, located at 60 Mercy Court in Irvine. Barnes will help patients who visit the emergency room in non-life threatening situations with finding a "medical home" – a consistent setting for primary care – and obtaining appropriate cancer screening or smoking cessation assistance.

Barnes’ position represents a collaboration between Kentucky Homeplace, Marcum & Wallace Memorial Hospital, the University of Kentucky’s Prevention Research Center and the National Cancer Institute. The expected outcome of the joint effort is an increase in the number of patients who subsequently obtain cancer screening and find a medical home.

"As partners worked together to affect this issue, it was realized many women do not have a medical provider and instead use the emergency room for medical care," said Tami Kelder, partnership program manager for the cancer institute’s mid-South region. "… If data show we are indeed reaching rarely or never-screened people, the project could prove to be a model for other rural hospitals."

Those in need of assistance or wishing to make a referral may contact Barnes at (606) 723-2115, ext. 8177.

"I hope to be able to make a difference here, in my home county," said Barnes, who formerly worked with Kentucky River Foothills Development Council Inc., a community action agency serving Estill and surrounding counties.

Estill Countians also will continue to be served by Linda Thacker, a Kentucky Homeplace family health care advisor based in Beattyville. She can be contacted at (606) 464-2156.

With administrative offices based in Hazard at the University of Kentucky Center for Excellence in Rural Health, Kentucky Homeplace uses lay health workers like Barnes and Thacker to help residents in 58 counties access medications, medical supplies, disease- and wellness-related educational materials, and other services.

Kentucky Homeplace is a publicly funded program provided free of charge to its clients. The program has no eligibility restrictions, although most of the companies from which medications are accessed do have income guidelines. Referrals to Kentucky Homeplace can be made by health care providers, as well as by friends, family members, organizations, or by the client him/herself.

The program’s ultimate mission is to enable rural Kentuckians to act as an advocate for their own health needs.

"Our state has such a high rate of cervical and breast cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other conditions," said Fran Feltner, director of Kentucky Homeplace. "This program is devoted to promoting healthy lifestyles among our clients by encouraging proper diet, exercise and preventive care."