Team member stories: Parker Bailes on building trust while bridging gaps in care

In any community, there are gaps in care. Whether it’s due to income, the amount of care needed or other issues that can result in someone missing out on necessary medical needs, community paramedics like Parker Bailes help to bridge those gaps and build trust between health care networks like Prisma Health and the communities we serve.

“I work all over the Upstate,” said Bailes. “As a community paramedic, we’re here to help keep you happy, healthy and out of the hospital.”

Bailes is aware that his patients usually have some level of trepidation when they first meet, and focuses the first few visits on building trust and letting them know that he isn’t there just to hastily provide a little medical care and then head out while they still need more.

“I’m there for them,” said Bailes. “Most of the patients we see are underinsured or uninsured. Community paramedics can help to fill that gap.”

Bailes relies on the computer within his truck to provide dispatch information, letting him know who he’s going to see, where they are and why they need him. He also maintains a cardiac monitor, a lab kit, a response bag and other supplies to suit the variety of care his patients need.

“I have nurse practitioners and doctors call me,” said Bailes. “We talk as peers, which is really cool. In this role as a community paramedic, it’s very much, ‘I’m a clinician, you’re a clinician. What do we think?’ So, the best moments have been wins, right? So, we recently were tasked with helping out with wound care in a way that was new to us. We got a phone call from the patient that he didn’t need our services anymore, not because he was fed up with us or tired, but because the problem had been resolved.”

Community paramedics excel at doing medicine in austere environments. When there is medicine that needs done outside of the four walls of the hospital, Prisma Health is here to heal. We’re here to help. We’re here for good.