Flint NeuroHealth Partnership

The Flint NeuroHealth Partnership is breaking new ground in how neurologic diseases are identified and managed right here in Michigan. Launched in 2021, this collaborative effort brings together experts from the Department of Neurology at University of Michigan Health and the Departments of Internal Medicine at Hurley Medical Center and McLaren-Flint. Their shared mission is to understand and improve how brain and nerve disorders are cared for in primary care clinics—where most patients first seek help.

It all started with Dr. Melissa Elafros, Andrea and Lawrence A. Wolfe Research Professor at the U-M Medical School, and Drs. Thair Dawood and Huda Marcus, primary care physicians at Hurley Medical Center. Together, they wanted to know just how common neuropathy—a nerve disorder causing pain, weakness, and numbness—was among Hurley patients. Their initial study included 169 people from the community clinic. The results were striking: 73% had neuropathy, but an incredible 75% didn’t know they had it. Nearly 60% were living with ongoing pain. 

“Improving care for neurologic diseases in primary care is essential as 40% of patient care visits for neurologic disorders are in the primary care setting. For many patients across the United States, seeing a neurologist is often not feasible,” said Dr. Elafros.

Seeing these gaps inspired a new collaboration. With Dr. Parul Sud, a primary care physician at McLaren-Flint, the team now investigates how neurologic diseases are addressed in primary care and the challenges patients face in accessing care for common conditions such as neuropathy. The partnership is working across all three large health systems – Michigan Medicine, Hurley Medical Center, and McLaren-Flint—trying to untangle barriers to neurologic care and find solutions, from diagnosis management and ongoing support.

Benefits from this collaboration reach beyond research. The Flint NeuroHealth Partnership has actively helped build up the expertise of local primary care providers. “Dr. Elafros has enhanced the neurology education of our internal medicine trainees by providing regular lectures and education sessions on common neurologic disorders seen in our clinic. This partnership has benefited much more than our patients; it has also advanced the education of current and future doctors who will apply this expertise to not only our local patients but also beyond Flint to patients across Michigan and other states,” said Dr. Sud.

Education and community involvement are key. By working together, the group is also studying dementia care, another growing concern for aging communities like Flint. Dr. Dawood reflected, “This academic-community partnership has really allowed us at Hurley Medical Center to address patient needs in a new way.”

The Flint NeuroHealth Partnership stands as an example of what’s possible when academic institutions and local health providers join forces. Patients benefit from better knowledge and earlier diagnosis, and future doctors are better prepared for the real-world challenges they’ll face.

Dr. Eva Feldman, Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology at U-M Medical School, summed it up: “Dr. Elafros and the Flint NeuroHealth Partnership is a unique academic-community partnership that is changing how we think about neurologic diseases in the clinic and the burden that they place on patients.”