Wellstar MCG Health to Exhibit Local Black Artists

At Wellstar, our doors are open to everyone. Whether it’s an individual with a life-threatening health crisis or a family looking for a new primary care provider, we’re here to help.

Sometimes, it’s not enough to welcome people in. We also need to go out into the communities we serve to meet people where they live, work and play to ensure they receive high-quality care.

To meet more of our neighbors where they are, we partner with organizations like Ser Familia. Founded in 2001 in the Metro Atlanta area, Ser Familia equips Latino families with the tools, resources and skills they need to thrive. Ser Familia’s extensive wraparound services include support groups, family workshops, mental health counseling and educational programs. In recent years, Ser Familia has expanded its footprint with new locations across Georgia and Puerto Rico.

The power of working together

Wellstar Center for Health Equity has a long-standing relationship with Ser Familia. For example, Wellstar provides grant funding so Ser Familia can employ Spanish-speaking community health professionals. These professionals have a unique ability to provide health information where it is needed most. They can:

• Connect families with health resources in their community, including primary care providers
• Offer language translation services
• Provide health education and information
• Give informal guidance about healthy behaviors

Also, Wellstar physicians participate in Ser Familia community health outreach programs serving Latino communities.

Excitement about a planned health clinic

In the near future, Ser Familia plans to open a health clinic with the support of Someone Cares, Inc. of Marietta, another Wellstar partner. The clinic will provide comprehensive primary care, including health, education and preventive services. Nurse practitioners will see patients at the clinic under the guidance of physicians at Someone Cares. And, if patients need care that Ser Familia does not offer, the nurse practitioners can refer them to a Someone Cares provider.

When organizations like Wellstar and Ser Familia work together, we accomplish far more in our communities than we could separately by making better use of our resources. Most importantly, we help people find the care they need where they need it.

Learn more about Wellstar Center for Health Equity.

Augusta, Ga. (Feb. 5, 2025) – When Dr. Sergio Bustos, 92, fell and developed a bruise that swelled and didn’t improve, his family brought him to the Emergency Department at Wellstar MCG Health Medical Center. The attending physician prescribed treatment that included IV antibiotics and the opportunity to receive hospital-level care from the comfort of his home. Bustos and his family were surprised and elated. He became Georgia’s first Hospital Care at Home patient.

As its name suggests, the Hospital Care at Home program allows patients who meet certain criteria to be admitted to the hospital while remaining comfortable at home. The benefits include shorter recovery times and regular visits by care providers who can identify and address environmental issues that may lead to being re-admitted to the hospital.

When physicians decide that a patient is a good candidate for the program, the patient is provided with equipment to monitor their vital signs and a tablet for virtual physician visits. Nurses virtually monitor vital signs around the clock while other care team members, including nurses and paramedics, make in-home visits multiple times a day to administer IV antibiotics, capture vital signs, assess the home for safety, complete virtual visits with the physician team and ensure the patient is improving toward discharge.

“The Hospital Care at Home program is a game changer for eligible patients, especially those who are elderly and respond better to treatment in their more familiar environments,” said Dr. Matt Lyon, director of the MCG Center for Digital Health at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. “We combine technology and in-home visits to produce better health outcomes.”

“The patient first has to meet criteria for hospitalization, and then meet the criteria for Hospital Care at Home by an in-person physician consultation,” continued Lyon. “While the patient must need hospitalization, they also need to be mobile, and their condition can’t be too critical. Someone who needs a lot of monitoring is not a good candidate. They also need to live close enough to Wellstar MCG Health in case they need to quickly return to the hospital.”

If at any point a patient begins having problems and needs more acute care, they are immediately transferred back to the brick-and-mortar hospital.

Bustos’ daughter, Susana Chacon, who is an occupational therapist, was thrilled her father could receive hospital-level care at home. She was concerned that at his age, he would respond better to receiving care in a familiar setting.

“Hospitals are wonderful when you need them, but being out of place for older people can cause confusion. You can’t eat or sleep like you can at home, where you have your own bed, bathroom, things like that. As an occupational therapist, I think the best place ever to recover, if possible, is at home. You’re going to be able to function so much better,” she said.

First authorized in 2020 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Hospital Care at Home program provides hospitals with expanded flexibility to care for patients and was recently extended by Congress through the end of March 2025. Proponents of Hospital Care at Home hope that Congress will continue to extend the program.

“I am very pleased with the experience,” said Bustos. “Any time that I had any questions, they were answered. The medical team was wonderful, and my wife and family were more comfortable spending time with me.”

Bustos was successfully discharged from Wellstar MCG Health’s Hospital Care at Home program a few days after being admitted. The virtual care team continued to follow Bustos for 30 days, supporting him and his family with scheduling appointments, delivering medication, arranging for social support and providing quick access to a healthcare provider if needed.

According to Becker’s Hospital Review, the four most common conditions treated through hospital-at-home programs are respiratory, circulatory, renal (kidney) and infectious disease.

“Advances in technology have opened opportunities for more personalized healthcare that were previously unimaginable,” said Dr. Hank Capps, executive vice president, chief information and digital officer at Wellstar. “We’re always looking for ways to improve the patient experience. Offering hospital-level care at home, when it’s appropriate, is the newest way that we’re providing Georgians with the compassionate care that they need.”

When Coale Peace learned he had been chosen to be a 2025 National Champion by the Children’s Miracle Network, he asked his mom, “Does that mean me and 12 other kids are going to take over the world?”

That spunky attitude belies the painful condition Coale lives with every day: osteogenesis imperfecta, or OI. It is also known as “brittle bone disease.” His bones break with very little cause or provocation.

His spirit, however, is definitely not broken.