“Primary care treats the patient as a person, as a whole, in the context of their family and their environment”

The Global Health Blog, The Lancet, featured an article last month about private sector clinic models that are integrating the principles of patient-centered care into every aspect of the business model. The article highlighted the phenomenal work of C2C’s peer organizations in East Africa and India – a group of innovators called The Primary Care Learning Collaborative.

So many global health models and interventions focus on “vertical” issues like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. It is encouraging to see a resurgence of support for the urgency of primary care platforms. These models, like C2C in Haiti, are often the point-of-entry to the care system for vulnerable people and families. The health of our clients is impacted by so many factors, often exacerbated by poverty and the lack of education and economic opportunity. C2C responds to local health needs by drawing on a continuous feedback loop between the community and the clinic: we build relationships with community groups like churches and schools, foster dialogue and debate through our local clinic Steering Committee, and conduct ongoing patient satisfaction research.

At C2C clinics, we put just as much effort into caring for our clients as we do communicating with them. This approach is fundamental to effective primary care; we help Haitian families get well and stay healthy.