Carelon, a healthcare services company, recently opened its first-ever Carelon care center in Fayetteville, NC, a new integrated health clinic that offers primary care and behavioral health to military, Medicare and Medicaid patients in Cumberland County. They began seeing patients at the new location at 1590 Skibo Rd. on Feb. 20. 

This care center serves to bring physical health and behavioral health services to community members in and around Fayetteville all under one roof for complete care.

The Carelon care center is staffed by a multidisciplinary care team that utilizes personalized care models to address all the factors that influence an individual’s whole health in-person and virtually. They see patients by appointment as well as walk-ins. 

Insurance plans accepted include TRICARE; BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina (Medicare); Healthy Blue (Medicaid patients 14 years old and up) and Original Medicare.

“We’re here to make ourselves as available as we can be, and meeting the patients where they are,” shared Dr. Kiragu. 

By offering virtual care and working with Healthy Blue to assist in providing transportation for patients, Carelon does its best to reach all of the clients that are in need of their services. While English is the primary language spoken, a virtual translation interpreter is available for other languages to enable communication between patients, families, and providers.

“We want it to feel open and welcoming,” shared Dr. Kiragu. “We also have a lot of pictures… [we want to] make it a calm atmosphere, but also make it really inviting specifically to the folks in the military and the folks who have retired from the military to make them feel welcome. So as you look at the pictures, the theme is very intentional.”

The facility includes a lab area, four exam rooms, and five behavioral health rooms as well as a meeting space for employees. 

In addition to the therapy services offered, patients will also have access to a psychiatrist who is supporting the clinic remotely. 

Dr. Kiragu shared that Carelon is still in search of a permanent physician for the Fayetteville location. As of now Dr. Kiragu and other Carelon providers within North Carolina are sharing the responsibility of seeing patients at this facility. 

“We are here. We are here to serve. We are here to collaborate. We know that there are folks in the community who have been doing really, really good work, and we are here to basically partner with them to offer what we’ve got to add to what they’re bringing to the community… we understand that there is a need for more primary care, as is true in many parts of the country, and we want to do a really good job to take good care of patients, to make them leave with a smile, and to also just work together with our community partners, because nobody can do it alone,” stated Dr. Kiragu. 

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The clinic’s hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Patients can call the office at 1-910-717-0676.