Choptank Health Receives 2023 Talbot County Community Impact Award

Talbot County business leaders gathered on Wednesday, May 3 in the Tidewater Inn’s Gold Ballroom for the 16th Talbot County Business Appreciation Breakfast and presentation of the 2023 Community Impact Awards, with Choptank Health being honored as one of five recipients.  

Choptank Community Health System received a 2023 Talbot County Community Impact Award to recognize the nonprofit’s recent expansion of healthcare services in Easton to include not only pediatrics, but primary care, behavioral health, and women's health services, including prenatal and on-site lab services.

Winners included Channel Marker, Inc. Residential Crisis Services, Chesapeake Landing Seafood Restaurant, Choptank Community Health System, Ferry Cove Oyster Hatchery, and McDaniel resident and volunteer Bill Shrieves. 

A video presentation highlighted each award winner’s recent accomplishments, followed by the presentation of an engraved pewter tray, handcrafted in Easton by Salisbury Pewter, and brief comments from recipients.

Highlights of Choptank Health
Choptank Community Health System has “community” in its name for a good reason — connecting with the community is at the core of everything they do.

A Federally Qualified Health Center, Choptank Health ensures that quality healthcare is available to everyone. FQHCs provide an important safety net in rural communities like those on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

“As an FQHC, we work hard to reduce barriers that impact access to health care,” says Sara Rich, president and CEO of Choptank Health. “A barrier might be location or geography, so transportation plays into that. Cost for care might be a barrier, so we offer a sliding scale for our patients based on family size and income. Language might be a barrier so we have interpreters available.”

Headquartered in Denton, Choptank Community Health provides medical, dental, and school-based health care for children and adult patients in Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, and Queen Anne’s counties. It began serving the Mid-Shore in 1980, and in 2003, expanded into Talbot County when it opened the Bay Hundred Health Center in St. Michaels.

“We serve about 25% of Talbot County residents, and across our five mid-shore counties about 30,000 patients. We have about 260 employees. In Talbot County we have locations in St. Michaels, Tilghman Island, and Easton,” Rich explains. “We’ve recently expanded our services in Easton to include not only pediatrics, but primary care, behavioral health, and women’s health services, and that includes prenatal and on-site lab services.”

Talbot County parents may know Choptank Health as the operator of the local School-Based Health Centers. Thanks to a partnership with the Talbot County Public Schools and the local Health Department that began in 2011, Choptank provides medical and dental services for students and staff.

Choptank Health added a new health center at White Marsh Elementary School in 2022.  A primary care mobile health unit is also used as part of Choptank Health’s school-based health center services. Behavioral health services and certified nutritionist education services will be offered for the 2023-2024 school year.

Community outreach is a priority for Choptank Health, especially for reaching individuals and families in the region’s most rural areas. You’ll find them at the annual Chesapeake Multicultural Festival, hosting migrant worker outreach events, and at locations throughout the Mid-Shore offering health screenings and more.

2023 Talbot County Community Impact Award Winners, from left: Chesapeake Landing Restaurant and Bay Hundred Seafood owner Joe Spurry, Jr.; Choptank Community Health System CEO Sara Rich; Upper Shore Aging President and community volunteer Bill Shrieves, Ferry Cove Shellfish President Stephan Abel, Chesapeake Landing Restaurant owner Erin Spurry, and Channel Marker, Inc. CEO Cathy Cassell with Talbot County Department of Economic Development and Tourism Cassandra Vanhooser.

Building partnerships with other community-oriented organizations has been key to Choptank Health’s success in Talbot County and the Mid-Shore region. When local agencies and community partners work together, the result is a healthier community.

“It’s wonderful to do business here in Talbot County because of the people and the relationships that we have built,” Rich explains. “It’s all about coming together and working on solutions to the problems that we’re facing. We have that same goal that we want to have stronger and healthier communities, and we all do that together.”

Read more about all of Talbot County’s 2023 Community Impact Award Winners here.