Pharmacist in Charge Leo Ross has been volunteering at CrossOver Healthcare Ministry for 18 years.
A component of metro Richmond’s medical safety net is getting a boost.
The nonprofit health service provider CrossOver Healthcare Ministry is expanding its roster of medical professionals and volunteers, enhancing its auxiliary services, and enlarging its physical footprint with a new, larger community pharmacy.
About three-quarters of the nearly 7,000 people who received its services in the past fiscal year have no medical insurance; many of the remainder are insured through Medicaid.
CrossOver is at the halfway mark of a three-year strategic plan that calls for increasing its service capacity by 20%, according to Julie Bilodeau, chief executive officer for the nonprofit health ministry. “Unfortunately, we continue to turn people away,” she says. “My dream is that one day we’ll be able to accommodate everybody who would like to come to us as patients. We’re not there yet, so we’re increasing our capacity as much as we can.”
Julie Bilodeau, CEO of CrossOver Healthcare Ministry
Volunteers are key to the health service’s outreach, and boosting its roster of volunteers is another component of the strategic plan. For fiscal year 2022, 358 volunteers provided 22,983 hours of service, according to CrossOver. “Volunteers are really the heart and soul of what we do,” Bilodeau says.
The ministry especially needs volunteers in nursing and those who can provide interpretive services. Bilodeau notes that CrossOver has served people from more than 180 countries and speakers of more than 40 languages, “so we’re just incredibly diverse,” she says.
Plans also call for enhancing the look and feel of CrossOver facilities for patients, employees and volunteers.
CrossOver is expanding its pharmacy, which may double its ability to serve the community. The pharmacy will be on the campus of its Henrico clinic at 8600 Quioccasin Road and will be twice the size of the space currently in use, enough room for two pharmacists to work simultaneously, Bilodeau says. CrossOver filled 33,190 prescriptions in fiscal year 2022.
There will be room for medication counseling as well. “Medication management is a key piece of what we do, and this will allow us to serve more patients, right now,” she says.
CrossOver raised $250,000 for the pharmacy expansion. Construction is set to begin in May or June, and the facility is targeted for completion by year’s end. The facility will be on the first floor next to the medical clinic.
The pharmacy also serves other medical nonprofits serving the metro area. “Any safety net provider that says, ‘Hey, we need medicines’ that are in our pharmacy, we’ll dispense them,” Bilodeau says. She notes that private providers also serve uninsured patients who also could be served through CrossOver. “I’m looking forward to creatively expanding the pharmacy now that they will have the capacity,” she says.
Another change for CrossOver is a relocation of its HIV program from the Richmond clinic at 108 Cowardin Ave. to the Henrico clinic. The move is expected by March 13.
March is also the month for CrossOver’s annual Spring Into Action women’s breakfast, a fundraiser and overview of the nonprofit, set for March 16 at The Jefferson Hotel. The featured speaker is Dr. Danielle Avula, associate medical director for CrossOver and a family care practitioner. Avula works with pediatric and adult patients and with the obstetrics program for the nonprofit. The program will focus on CrossOver’s obstetrics and pediatrics programs.
More than 65% of CrossOver patients are women. Bilodeau notes that the nonprofit sees about 600 pediatric patients who are ages 3 or older. The ministry is not equipped to see younger pediatric patients, she says.
CrossOver recently began a Reach Out and Read enrichment reading program for its youngest patients. “When they come to see their pediatrician, the pediatrician reads a book with them,” Bilodeau says.
At the end of the visit, the child can take the book home.
The clinic also provides dental and vision care for children. Providing behavioral health care is more of a challenge because of a dearth of clinicians in the area, Bilodeau says. “Many of [the children seen here] have experienced trauma in their life, and working to get them care is challenging,” she says.
For more information about CrossOver Healthcare Ministry, visit crossoverministry.org.
Save the Date
March 16: Spring Into Action breakfast: Check-in begins 7:30 a.m., program at 8 a.m., The Jefferson Hotel, 101 W. Franklin St. CrossOver Healthcare Ministry’s program features Dr. Danielle Avula, associate medical director for CrossOver and a family care practitioner. Avula works with pediatric and adult patients and with the obstetrics program for the nonprofit. Free, registration required. Donations accepted. crossoverministry.org/ways-to-give/events
