People Make the Place: Faces of Martin County is a storytelling series highlighting a few of the people who help shape the character of our community. Through their experiences, work, and connections to Martin County, each feature offers a closer look at the people behind the places that make this area feel like home.
Our first feature is Dr. Steven Manning, founder of AccessMedicine and a lifelong Martin County resident. A Williamston native, Dr. Manning returned home after completing medical school and residency at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine with a desire to serve the community that raised him. Since then, he has become a familiar and trusted presence throughout the region through his work in medicine, leadership roles, and commitment to eastern North Carolina.
Read more from Dr. Manning below as he shares his story, his connection to Martin County, and what continues to inspire his work in the community.
“What inspired you to bring a more personal, patient-focused approach to healthcare here in Martin County?”
It really came down to time. I started my practice with Martin General Hospital and launched Martin Family Medicine, building a brand-new clinic from scratch. I was there for three years, but I quickly ran into the harsh limitations of standard, insurance-based medicine. In that system, you are pressured to see as many patients as possible to cover overhead, forcing you to compress visits into 15 minutes or less. I felt this was severely eroding the quality of care I could provide, especially for new patients, complex chronic cases, and hospital follow-ups.
One night at 9:00 PM, while drowning in paperwork, I realized I couldn’t spend the rest of my career rushed and unhappy. I remembered a colleague, Dr. Brian Forrest, who had been successfully practicing Direct Primary Care (DPC) for over a decade. His model gave him ample time with patients without the constant rush. I reached out to him, and by the next year, I launched AccessMedicine, built on four core pillars:
- Affordability: Low-cost, accessible primary care for everyone, insured or not.
- High Quality: Delivering the absolute best clinical expertise for every patient, from simple issues to highly complex chronic diseases.
- Transparency: No hidden fees or surprises; all costs and prices for procedures are upfront.
- Access & Time: Documented same-day or next-day access for acute needs, backed by 30-to-60-minute appointments. This allows us to treat the whole person—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
I’ve told medical students that I don’t think I could provide good primary care under the traditional insurance model anymore. DPC allows me to practice medicine the way it was meant to be practiced.
“How do you see your work making a difference in the everyday lives of people in this community?”
Our work impacts everyday lives by bridging two distinct patient needs. On one side, we have well-off patients or retirees with great Medicare supplements who could choose any insurance-based clinic for free, but they happily pay our membership fee because they value the unhurried time and direct 24/7 access (via text, call, or email) that we provide.
On the other side, we provide a vital safety net for people who need the highest quality care at the lowest possible out-of-pocket cost.
Because we have the luxury of time, the data shows our clinical metrics are objectively better. We can engage patients deeply, leading to better management of diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. Beyond the clinic, making a tangible difference means being accessible—whether that’s doing regular home visits, answering a late night text, or checking in with patients when I see them around town at Walmart. It’s a model that serves the community I grew up in, and it’s a mutual gift for both my patients and myself.
“What do you think makes Martin County such a meaningful place to be part of?”
Martin County is my home. When I went to ECU, I never planned on returning to a small town. But as I went through medical school and residency, I realized there is no better place for a family physician to serve than their own hometown.
Returning home can be tricky—either people avoid you because they know you too well, or they seek you out because they trust your roots. Fortunately, it was the latter. I wanted to bring an academic clinical focus into a rural setting. I also realized that the best mentors I had in residency were physicians who had spent years in real-world community practices before returning to teach. I saw a massive opportunity to bring medical students and residents to Williamston to show them how fulfilling rural medicine can be, hopefully inspiring them to practice in high-need areas.
Martin County is defined by its people, but we have work to do. We need to optimize our resources, revitalize our downtown, and encourage local investment. I’m trying to do my part by expanding local services, like our new med spa, but a thriving community also requires a robust healthcare ecosystem, including stable hospital and emergency room care. My goal is to make Martin County a premier place to live, work, and raise a family, and I am incredibly thankful to raise my own children here while serving the community.