West Alabama Regional Commission and Area Agency on Aging have re- leased a new online tool to improve access to health- care. The BE WELL West Alabama Healthcare Loca- tor was developed as a GIS- based interactive map to highlight healthcare serv- ices available throughout the seven-county region.
BE WELL was created as a result of the West Alabama Regional Commission’s BETTER West Alabama (Bringing Tools To Enrich and Revitalize) Initiative using Economic Development Administra- tion CARES Act funding to address the impacts of COVID-19. As part of the BETTER Initiative, Health-care Asset Mapping was identified as one of the opportunities to advance recovery in the region. BE WELL allows residents in Bibb, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Pickens and Tuscaloosa counties to search a variety of health-care services using an interactive online mapping application developed with ESRI ArcGIS software. The categories include Hospitals; Health Clinics; Covid Test Sites; Covid Vaccination Sites; Senior Centers; Dialysis Clinics; Substance Use Treatment; Mental Health Care; and Dental, Hearing and Vision. Symbology for each category appears at site locations on the map and can be opened to show the site address, phone number, website address and other important notes. Access to the map is through the WARC and AAA websites https://www.warc.info/ and https://www.westalabamaaging.org/
