AndHealth Expands Specialty Care Access to Illinois, Partnering with the Illinois Primary Health Care Association and Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation

Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation becomes AndHealth's first Illinois community health center (CHC) partner as the company enters its third state, bringing specialty care to medically underserved patients; Illinois Primary Health Care Association (IPHCA) names AndHealth a preferred partner for specialty care and specialty pharmacy

CHRISTOPHER, Ill. & COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AndHealth today announced its expansion into Illinois through a partnership with the Illinois Primary Health Care Association (IPHCA) and its first Illinois community health center partner, Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation. The announcement was made at IPHCA's annual conference in Peoria.

Through the partnership, patients of Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation will gain access to Whole Person Specialty Care across rheumatology, dermatology, and neurology — through AndHealth's own specialist team and a growing network of partnered specialty practices in the region — with dramatically shorter wait times than they face today. Patients will also receive comprehensive disease management support, including care navigation, health coaching, nutritional support, and help with prior authorizations and scheduling, all connected to the primary care team they already know and trust. Over the coming year, the partnership will also expand specialty pharmacy access for Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation patients.

For patients who rely on community health centers, seeing a specialist can mean a wait of many months, or more. Many independent specialists do not accept Medicaid or uninsured patients, and much of rural Southern Illinois is a specialty care desert. Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation's 16 clinics span nearly 100 miles, and for many of its patients a specialist visit also means hours of driving.

“Health centers have been asked to do so much for so little,” said Matt Scantland, CEO of AndHealth. “We're excited to announce our partnership with the Illinois Primary Health Care Association to radically improve access and outcomes for patients who need complex specialty care. We're launching first with Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation, a wonderful first partner that brings the mission orientation, skill, and resources to remove these barriers, and we look forward to working with more Illinois community health centers who want to bring this to their patients next.”

Under an agreement with IPHCA, AndHealth is recommended to the association's member health centers as a preferred partner and best practice for specialty care and specialty pharmacy.

“When I first talked to AndHealth, I knew immediately they were folks I wanted to get in front of our health centers,” said Ollie Idowu, President & CEO, Illinois Primary Health Care Association. “The lack of access to specialty care isn't just a rural problem — you can find access challenges just about everywhere in the state. This model is built to close those care gaps for patients here in Illinois.”

Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation, which operates 16 clinics serving some of the most rural communities in Southern Illinois, currently waits an average of four to six months to get a patient in to see a specialist.

"We're excited about the partnership with AndHealth and bringing specialty care to our patients who have historically had to wait four to six months for these services," said Kim Mitroka, President and CEO of Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation. "That is going to make the difference for us. With AndHealth, we are advancing our commitment to providing comprehensive, quality healthcare to all within the communities we serve."

AndHealth partners with community health centers to help them serve patients with complex, chronic conditions — such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and multiple sclerosis — that are typically treated by hospital-based specialists who are often out of reach for medically underserved patients. In addition to access to a specialist, AndHealth's whole-person model provides specialty pharmacy access under the health center's sliding fee scale and comprehensive disease management, including health coaching, nutrition, smoking cessation, and stress and movement support — much of which is not otherwise covered by insurance. The model is designed to be self-sustaining, generating mission funding that health centers reinvest in their communities.

Founded in Columbus, Ohio, AndHealth has partnered with community health centers across Ohio and Indiana for five years. Partner health centers in those states report that patients who previously waited many months for a specialist appointment are now typically seen within weeks.

“Our launch with Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation is a springboard to accomplish with community health centers in Illinois the same things we've done in Ohio and Indiana — to radically improve access and outcomes for patients who need specialty care, and to provide an important source of mission funding that helps health centers do everything they do even bigger and more comprehensively,” Scantland said.

Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation will begin connecting patients to the program in phases over the coming months, starting with patients already under its care.

About AndHealth

AndHealth partners with community health centers to radically improve access and outcomes for medically underserved patients who need specialty care. Working alongside health centers in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, AndHealth provides access to rheumatology, dermatology, and neurology specialists, specialty pharmacy, and comprehensive disease management programs for complex chronic conditions — delivered as whole-person care, connected to the care team patients already know. Founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 2021, AndHealth was created to extend, rather than rebuild, the health care system by building on the trusted foundation of community health centers. Learn more at andhealth.com.

About Christopher Rural Health Planning Corporation

Christopher Rural Health Planning Corp. (CRHPC) is a Federally Qualified Health Center that offers a full range of services to patients regardless of age, race, ethnicity or ability to pay. The many services offered to their patients in southern Illinois include family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, behavioral health services, pharmacy and nutritional services. For more information, please visit www.crhpc.org.

About the Illinois Primary Health Care Association

IPHCA is a nonprofit trade association that serves as the voice of and champion for Illinois’ 55 community health centers, which serve more than 1.5 million patients annually across more than 450+ service sites in medically underserved rural, urban, and suburban areas. For more information, please visit www.IPHCA.org.