UNC Family Medicine

06/25/2026

06/22/2026

UNC Family Medicine has received a grant through the UNC System Rural Residency Medical Education and Training Fund to support a new project focused on strengthening rural residency training in agricultural and farmworker health.

The project, North Carolina Rural Residency Training Collaborative for Agricultural Health, is led by Modjulie Moore, MD, Assistant Professor and Medical Director for the North Carolina Farmworker Health Program. It is part of a larger $6.4 million statewide investment supporting rural and interprofessional health training programs across North Carolina.

The new initiative will help build training pathways for residents and providers serving rural communities, with a focus on understanding current and future learning opportunities in agricultural health. The collaborative will also bring forward community-led recommendations to guide training and resources that support providers caring for farmworker and agricultural worker populations across the state.

The work builds on UNC Family Medicine’s longstanding commitment to rural and community-based care, as well as its partnership with the North Carolina Farmworker Health Program, which supports agricultural worker communities through outreach, training, technical assistance, and access to care.

Key partners in the collaborative include the NC Agromedicine Institute, represented by Dawn Caviness, MD, Medical Director; Alyssa Spence, EdD, Executive Director; and McKayla Robinette, MS, along with Kelsey Ross Dew, MPH, CHES, Research Project Manager in UNC Family Medicine, and the NC Department of Health and Human Services Office of Rural Health Farmworker Health Program.

Together, the partners will work to strengthen the rural health workforce and support more informed, community-responsive care for agricultural worker communities in North Carolina.

06/17/2026

We ❤ our Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Track residents and our faculty and colleagues at the best FQHC, Piedmont Health Services!

06/10/2026

We'd like to offer congratulations to Tommy Koonce, MD, MPH, who has been appointed Associate Dean of Admissions for the UNC School of Medicine!

From UNC Family Medicine Chair Margaret Helton, MD:

"It is a pleasure to announce that Thomas Koonce, MD, MPH, has been appointed Associate Dean of Admissions for the UNC School of Medicine, effective July 1, 2026.

As associate dean, Tommy will lead the recruitment, admission, and enrollment of prospective medical students, working closely with colleagues in the Office of Medical Student Education and UNC Chapel Hill. Tommy brings a well-established passion for medical student education to the position, and an understanding of the needs of the state and nation regarding medical training. He has a deep commitment to the University of North Carolina, where he was a Morehead Scholar as an undergraduate, attended medical school, and now serves as a professor in our department.

Tommy will continue his role as Associate Chief Medical Officer for outpatient services for the UNC Faculty Practice. He will also continue to lead our department’s nationally acclaimed Faculty Development Fellowship and will continue to see patients in the family medicine center.

Please join me in congratulating Tommy on this appointment. He will bring leadership and perspective to medical school admissions and to the future of our medical student community.

Sincerely,
Margaret Helton, MD
William B. Aycock Distinguished Professor & Chair"

06/05/2026

UNC Family Medicine will help lead a new effort to improve care for patients with complex health and social needs through the Bridge to Health initiative.

Supported by a $1.3 million grant from The Duke Endowment to the UNC School of Medicine and UNC Health, the pilot program will expand hospital-based transitional clinics and strengthen partnerships among health systems, primary care providers, and community organizations.

Led at UNC by Timothy Daaleman, DO, MPH, the initiative also includes Marni Holder, MSN, RN, director of community health initiatives, and Tim Smith, MPA, who bring extensive experience in community partnerships, program development, and care coordination for vulnerable populations.

Through Bridge to Health, UNC will support patients after hospitalization by addressing acute medical, behavioral health, and social needs while connecting them to ongoing care and community-based resources.

Read more at go.unc.edu/BridgetoHealth

05/22/2026

S/O to our colleagues at UNC Sports Medicine Institute, faculty, & residents who made the recent free sports physicals for Chapel Hill / Carrboro City Schools possible!

👏 Teamwork in action to support our local student‑athletes!
Thank you to providers from Orthopaedics, UNC Family Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and UNC Therapy Services and UNC School of Medicine students for providing sports physicals for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools students. This kind of collaboration helps ensure student‑athletes are ready for a safe and successful season, and reflects the strength of our multidisciplinary team.
UNC Health

05/18/2026

UNC Family Medicine is proud to recognize Victor Vincent (center in photo), senior community health worker with NC FIT Recovery, as a recipient of the University’s Robert E. Bryan Public Service Award, which honors meaningful service and engagement across North Carolina. Vincent received the award on April 9, 2026, at the annual The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Public Service Awards ceremony held at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center.

Vincent’s work reflects the mission of the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition (NC FIT) program, a UNC Family Medicine initiative founded by Evan Ashkin, MD, that supports individuals returning to their communities after incarceration. Each year, thousands of people are released from North Carolina prisons, often without stable access to health care, housing, or other essential supports. NC FIT brings together UNC Family Medicine, state agencies, community health centers, and local partners to connect individuals with chronic disease, mental illness, or substance use disorders to care and community resources at a critical point in their transition.

At the center of this work are community health workers, frontline public health professionals who serve as trusted links between health systems and the communities they serve. Through outreach, care coordination, and ongoing support, they help individuals navigate complex systems and address barriers such as transportation, insurance, and housing. This approach has been shown to improve health outcomes and strengthen engagement in care, particularly for underserved populations. Within NC FIT, many community health workers bring lived experience with incarceration, which helps build trust and strengthen connections with participants.

NC FIT Recovery builds on this model by supporting individuals with opioid use disorder, including those receiving medication-assisted treatment, and helping ensure continuity of care after release.

Vincent’s recognition highlights the impact of this work and UNC Family Medicine's role in advancing community-based care. As a senior community health worker, he supports individuals as they navigate reentry, connect to care, and move toward recovery and stability.

05/06/2026

It's , which runs from National Nurses Day on May 6 to May 12 - Florence Nightingale's birthday. We would like to recognize our crew of All-Star nurses at all The UNC Family Medicine Centers at Chapel Hill (main campus), Carraway Village, Durham, and South Durham, many of whom you know and love. These nurses provide outstanding, compassionate care to a diverse patient population.

Happy Nurses Week to our amazing Family Medicine nurses and to nurses everywhere! We appreciate all that you do. Thank a nurse!

04/29/2026

UNC Family Medicine is proud to recognize several physicians who have been named 2026 Carolina Care Excellence Award honorees by UNC Hospitals and UNC Faculty Physicians. This annual award celebrates physicians and advanced practice providers who consistently deliver compassionate, high-quality, patient-centered care.

Honorees are selected based on patient feedback from the Press Ganey Medical Practice Survey, which measures patients’ likelihood of recommending their provider to family and friends. During this year’s survey window, 240 providers across UNC Hospitals received the highest recommendation scores, placing them in the top quartile nationally.

These awards reflect the strong relationships UNC Family Medicine physicians build with patients and families, as well as their ongoing commitment to excellent care for ALL people across clinical, educational, and community settings.

Congrats to all of this year’s honorees for their dedication to serving patients and advancing family medicine!