Dr. Sharon Buttress and CAMcare

Dr. Sharon Buttress, Medical Director and Corporate Vice President, CAMcare Health Corporation

Originating in 1978 with one facility, CAMcare Health Corporation has become Camden City's and one of Camden County's largest providers of primary care services. Since 1993, Dr. Sharon Buttress has served as Medical Director and Corporate Vice President of CAMcare, the second largest Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in New Jersey. CAMcare maintains a strong commitment to its mission of providing high quality comprehensive health services to underserved families of Camden and South Jersey. Through continuous process and quality improvement initiatives and programs, CAMcare has earned Joint Commission on Accreditation Gold Seal of Approval by delivering high quality health care services to patients and maintaining high HEDIS rates.

With Camden City ranked as the nation's second poorest city, CAMcare staff feels strongly that local residents are entitled to the same health care as people who have health insurance. Dr. Buttress emphasized, "We do not believe in two-tiered medicine. So the care I give to an underserved or uninsured patient is the same quality care given to a patient with insurance at a private practice."

With 87,000 residents, Camden City's population is about 53 percent African American and 40 percent Hispanic. Camden City is an old city with a young population and a median age of 27 years. Dr. Buttress commented, "Understanding the population helps us tailor the services around patients' needs. Camden City has a lot of women in the reproductive age with young children."

Situated one mile within any direction of the North Camden, South Camden, East Camden and the Gateway Headquarters, CAMcare's four facilities give patients easy access to primary care services. "CAMcare patients will see health care professionals reflective of the people living right in their communities," commented Dr. Buttress. "It is important for us to have a diverse staff representative of the communities we serve because it helps our patients feel more comfortable when they are in for services."

In 2005, a staff of 43 physicians and nurse practitioners saw 28,585 patients, totaling 127,000 visits among CAMcare's four facilities and seven school-based sites. Dr. Buttress remarked, "Having the four primary care services, pediatrics, internal medicine, women's health and dental, allow us to offer different models of primary care. When our patients come in for services, they do not come to visit a clinic. They come to see their personal doctor or dentist. We treat all patients using a family-oriented and patient-centered approach to primary care. Our facilities are run like a private office, but with enhancements. Patients find one stop shopping whenever possible, with the patient at the center, moving the services around the patient, rather than the patient around the services. This model helps keep patients on site for services."

CAMcare's patients have access to a primary care physician 24 hours, seven days a week, including walk-in, evening and weekend hours. Dr. Buttress remarked, "We encourage our patients to call us for any of their problems before they decide to go to the emergency room. Patients will reach a doctor on call 365 days a year. Our goal is to keep our patients out of the hospital. Often we can handle their concerns over the phone and get them through the morning until they can be seen in the office the next day. When they need hospital facilities, one of our physicians cares for them as inpatients when they are having their babies or receiving care for medical conditions."

Dr. Buttress concluded, "Our challenge is finding ways of delivering services to our patients. We accomplish this by bringing in services on site, such as mammography and expanding outside of Camden City proper into areas new sites in Lindenwold, NJ, and Gloucester County using state funding grants for FQHCs."