Collaborative Healthplex Brings New Model of Coordinated Care to Lynchburg

The new Graves Mill Road medical campus brings primary care, specialty services, imaging, and urgent care together in one location, with plans for continued growth.

By: Helen Berry

A new healthcare model has arrived in Lynchburg. On the corner of Graves Mill and Nationwide Drive, Collaborative Health Partners has constructed and opened the Collaborative Healthplex, an expansive medical-mall style healthcare complex designed to unify patient care within one campus.

“The vision behind the Healthplex was to create a destination where patients could access a broad range of services in one location, while receiving coordinated, connected care,” explained Lauren Bennett, Vice President of Culture and Communications for Collaborative Health Partners. “Traditionally, patients have had to travel to various offices to access the range of services that they need, but we saw an opportunity to bring primary care, imaging, sports medicine, and so much more under one roof—making it easier for our patients to navigate. As healthcare needs are becoming more complex, the Healthplex creates a more streamlined patient experience.”

Under this new model, patient experience is at the center of focus, with Collaborative Health Partners and the Collaborative Healthplex providers surrounding the patient as a team who communicates and works together to improve patient outcomes. With so much care under one roof, the provider is able to coordinate patient care in a way that has traditionally been difficult under more fragmented healthcare systems.

“For example, say that you go to your primary care provider because of back pain,” Bennett shared. “That doctor can coordinate with our sports medicine physician. And maybe that physician consults with our ONMM (Osteopathic Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine) doctor. And perhaps, if necessary, those providers coordinate with imaging to make sure they have an MRI of what’s going on. All within our same facility, there are providers who are working together to improve those outcomes.”

Every team and provider within the Collaborative Healthplex, with the exception of Rehab Associates, is employed through Collaborative Health Partners, which Bennett says is beneficial because they share the same electronic health records. Under more traditional healthcare models, a patient would visit one doctor’s office for care and fill out paperwork. Should they be referred elsewhere, they would go to a separate location and fill out similar paperwork. With the Collaborative Healthplex model, that burden is alleviated because they have patient information in-house already.

“We also have a robust referrals team,” shared Bennett. “If a primary care provider wants to refer to a sports medicine doctor, the Referrals Coordinator is accustomed to knowing what each provider needs. Those pieces are super advantageous because it’s one system. When the patient communicates with their provider, multiple people can see that communication and answer that particular patient.”

Today, patients are able to access Family Medicine, Direct Primary Care, Sports Medicine, Endocrinology, and Osteopathic Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine. In the coming weeks leading up to July 27, when the final service will be under the Collaborative Healthplex roof, Internal Medicine, Imaging, Walk-In Care, Immediate Care, and Lifestyle Medicine will also be available to patients.

“The Healthplex gives us the physical space to grow and the infrastructure to grow alongside the community,” Bennett said. “Our family medicine and internal medicine offices were at capacity for the spaces they were in, so we couldn’t even recruit for additional providers and team members. At the Healthplex, we have rooms that we intentionally haven’t filled with the hope of increasing appointment availability and recruiting new providers.”

That increased access to care will help address a growing healthcare professional shortage that the Lynchburg region is facing, alongside communities across the country. According to Bennett, the investment in the Collaborative Healthplex reflects Collaborative Health Partners’ confidence in the region—that Central Virginia can support advanced healthcare delivery models that are traditionally found in larger, metropolitan areas.

“The future of healthcare is local and community focused,” she said.

As providers continue moving into the building throughout the summer, Collaborative Health Partners hopes the Healthplex will serve as both a healthcare destination for patients and a foundation for future growth in the region's medical workforce.

The Collaborative Healthplex can be found at 800 Graves Mill Road. The latest development and progress can be tracked here.