Ginger Zee Speaks: An evening benefiting the Carolinas Behavioral Health Advancement Fund
Over 200 community members, donors and mental health advocates gathered at Carmel Country Club on the evening of Thursday, March 5, to hear keynote speaker, Ginger Zee. Known to millions around the country as the ABC News chief meteorologist, Ginger Zee shared her personal experience of resilience and self-care, in the face of significant mental health challenges.
Based on her New York Times best-selling memoir Natural Disaster: I Cover Them, I am One, Ginger Zee’s story is about embracing the sunshine, after years in the dark storm of depression. This emotional and poignant night left the audience feeling renewed, empowered, and intensely moved by her chronicle of life as a “Natural Disaster”.
Ginger Zee Speaks raised $175,000 to support Atrium Health’s Behavioral Health Charlotte, the most comprehensive behavioral healthcare provider in the region, delivering services across a continuum of care including emergency, inpatient care, outpatient therapies, virtual care, primary care, education and community outreach.
Ginger Zee’s words of wisdom struck a universal chord: “There is sunshine out there and the clouds that you’re living in don’t last forever. If you can event just remember that for a moment, allow yourself to just be…and when you start to attend to the feelings and emotions if you say it to yourself, say it to other people, and go seek help, you will see sunshine again.”
Special thanks to presenting sponsor AccessOne and AccessOne founder, Russell A. Salton, III, MD.
As a third-generation physician who has based his life’s work on the ethos do no harm, Russell A. Salton, MD, principal and founder of AccessOne, has forged new pathways to health, hope and healing for local patients and insurance payors. His passionate commitment to patient advocacy has spanned the length of his career: first as a primary care physician and CEO of Metrolina Family Physicians; later, as co-founder of a managed care company, Primary PhysicianCare; and today, his role as Chairman of AccessOne.
Dr. Salton’s goal has been steadfast from the beginning – to expand access to needed healthcare services while supporting the financial viability of provider organizations. Among the most critical healthcare services Dr. Salton believes underserved residents need most are behavioral healthcare services. This is why Atrium Health is so proud to partner with AccessOne and Dr. Salton to ensure the very best behavioral health services, including virtual behavioral healthcare, are made affordable and available to patients where they need it most – close to home.
Pictured below:
Photo one (from left): Courtney Salton, Lynn Salton, Ginger Zee, Dr. Russell Salton, III, MD, and Russell Salton IV
Photo two: Ginger Zee with medical residents from The Sandra and Leon Levine Psychiatric Residency Program at Atrium Health.
