By Emily Ford
Salisbury Post
KANNAPOLIS ó Cabarrus County’s sickest and poorest people, those who seek public health care, have a lot to offer the N.C. Research Campus.
And the campus, expected to be a world leader in biotechnology within a decade, has a lot to offer public health patients.
Sick people need help preventing and managing disease, while the campus needs sick people to study and eventually to try cutting edge medical interventions.
But a proposed partnership between public health and the N.C. Research Campus in the battle against diabetes, hepatitis, childhood obesity and other chronic conditions still has a steep hurdle to clear ó $2.5 million.
That’s about how far apart the Cabarrus Health Alliance and campus developer Castle & Cooke are in a deal that would put the alliance, which serves as Cabarrus County’s public health department, into a new building on the Research Campus alongside Carolinas Healthcare System.
“The negotiations are still ongoing,” said Dr. William F. Pilkington, alliance director. “I still have hope.”
Dr. Leah Devlin, state public health director, toured the campus Wednesday in support of the Cabarrus Health Alliance.
And Pilkington had a friendly lunch last week with Castle & Cooke President Lynne Scott Safrit and billionaire David H. Murdock, who is building the campus on the ruins of a textile mill he once owned.
“They’ve been very receptive,” Pilkington said.
But he added, “It comes down to what it costs, and understanding what we can pay. For Carolinas Healthcare System, money is not the biggest issue. For us, money is the only issue.”
‘Incredible opportunity’
Public health is a powerful health-care delivery system, one that scientists at the N.C. Research Campus want access to.
The universities gearing up to launch medical and nutritional studies this summer when the campus opens see a tremendous advantage in having the Cabarrus Health Alliance a few feet away, Pilkington said.
“It’s an incredible opportunity,” said Victoria Christian, chief operating officer for the Duke Translational Research Institute and the MURDOCK Study.
She called public health “crucial” to the success of the MURDOCK Study, Duke’s landmark effort to determine the genetic causes of chronic disease.
Duke will need public health patients to help translate the data collected during clinical trials into everyday practice, Christian said.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wants to collaborate with the Cabarrus Health Alliance as well.
“This is going to be an intellectual environment, and I would love to see them on campus,” said Dr. Steve Zeisel, director of the UNC Nutrition Research Institute in Kannapolis.
Pilkington’s vision to create a “model health department for the 21st century” at the N.C. Research Campus appeals to Zeisel. It also presents an opportunity, as his institute attempts to revolutionize nutrition with research done at the campus.
The health alliance would serve as a laboratory of sorts for Zeisel, “translating science into new, useful public health interventions,” he said.
The worst cases
Duke and Chapel Hill wouldn’t be the only beneficiaries if Cabarrus Health Alliance leaves the old Kmart building on South Cannon Boulevard and moves to the Research Campus, Pilkington said.
Consumers would benefit greatly too, he said.
“Public health patients have the worst health problems because they get the least care,” he said. “They have the worst chronic diseases and the worst health habits.”
Health and medicine often fall to the bottom of their expense list after housing, food and transportation.
“They are trying to survive every day,” Pilkington said. “Health care is a luxury.”
These patients soon will be sought after by researchers and scientists with the latest in technology, equipment and medical knowledge.
Patients will have the opportunity to participate in clinical trials and studies that could change their lives, Christian said.
Behavior interventions, counseling, programs related to diet and exercise and more will offer a “tremendous potential benefit to people directly,” she said.
She predicted that even early on, the N.C. Research Campus will help prevent some people from developing type 2 diabetes.
“We are going to have better resources here than anywhere in the world,” Pilkington said.
If the health alliance can get on campus, “it’s a win-win,” he said.
Money on the way
Pilkington’s agency soon will receive $15 million for a new health department, part of a $168.4 million bond package aimed at infrastructure improvements around the N.C. Research Campus.
While the health alliance could move near the Research Campus and still qualify for the $15 million, many people agree that ideally, the agency should be on campus.
Proximity is important, Christian said.
“What we’re trying to do is very hard,” she said. “You don’t need any additional obstacles.”
Pilkington is negotiating with Castle & Cooke to buy about 60,000 square feet in the new Medical Office Building, where Curb Motorports once stood.
Since his $15 million will also have to pay for interior walls, floor coverings, furnishings and moreóabout $3 millionóthe most he can afford to pay for the building is $220 per square foot, Pilkington said.
But Castle & Cooke is asking about $260 per square foot, he said.
“It was Lynne’s (Scott Safrit) idea for the health alliance to move onto the Research Campus,” Pilkington said. “My reaction was yes, but it has to be cost effective for us to do it.”
The health alliance must leave its present location in two or three years due to an expansion of the Cabarrus County Department of Social Services, Pilkington said.
Wherever the agency ends up, it will collaborate with scientists on the Research Campus, he said.
Murdock is creating an environment where researchers from different universities will be forced to communicate, Pilkington said. He wants in on that arrangement.
“We want them to run into us in the halls,” he said. “We want them to see our patients every day.”
Safrit could not be reached for comment, but Pilkington said she continues to give him hope that they can work something out.
They have about 60 days to come to an agreement, he said. After that, he must pursue other options to ensure that his agency will receive the $15 million, he said.
“Everybody is very positive,” he said. “Lynne always says we’re going to find a way to do this.”
Contact Emily Ford at eford@salisburypost.com.