The Family Medicine Department at ECU has outgrown its original rented space and presently lacks an adequate permanent home.

• Family Medicine Center Overview - Summer 2008 Information.
• Funding Priority Snapshot - The What, Why & Desired Outcome.
• Brody's Residency Footprint - Where Brody physicians practice today.
• Brody-by-the-Numbers - Why the School is so important to NC.
• Letters of Support from ECU Medical Student Leadership
• Letters of Support by Dr. Doug Henley, AAFP Exec. Vice President

Quick Facts About The Center

• It now serves more than double its capacity - The Family Medicine Center is currently housed in a small and outdated facility intended to accommodate 26,000 patients per year (100 patients per day). The same facility now treats over 60,000 patients annually from all over eastern North Carolina.
• Lack of Patient Parking Limits Access - Golfcarts are currently being used to transport patients to remote parking. This is troublesome for the sick, especially the elderly.
• Signifcant Space Constraints for Teaching and Training - Brody’s Family Medicine Department to spread over 4 buildings in Greenville - one even 5 miles away! It has only 4 offices to accommodate 36 residents. Many of its teaching rooms are very cramped during plenary and lecture activities.

Why It's So Important

ECU Brody and its Family Medicine Center are essential in delivering critical primary care services to the people of eastern North Carolina. With the state suffering a significant shortage of Family Physicians and other primary care physicians, it is important to invest in the necessary infrastructure to produce an ample supply of expertly-training primary care physicians. There are a number of reasons why the Center is so important:

• Strengthen Quality Healthcare Access - The people of North Carolina rely upon The Family Medicine Center at East Carolina to train and educate their Family Physicians and to provide high-quality medical care without regard for the patient’s ability to pay. More Family Physicians and NCAFP members completed residency training at ECU than at any other residency program. ECU residency and medical school graduates practice all over North Carolina.
• Ensure NC's Health Workforce Demands are Met - ECU’s commitment to family medicine and primary care needs to be maintained in order for the health care needs of many of our state’s citizens to be met. A new facility will offer first-rate training for Family Physicians that will not only attract top quality professors, but top quality students. Plus, it will help address the shortage of primary care doctors in the state by allowing Brody to expand the range of medical services to communities in need.
• Help Reduce Health Disparities & Inequalities - The Family Medicine Center is critical to serving the underserved - often uninsured - and racially diverse population. Like the existing facility, the new Family Medicine Center will serve 29 counties in eastern North Carolina, where residents have some of the worst health indicators in the nation. This population will be served better through more modern, well-equipped facilities.