Blog Archives
By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on Sustainability Program
The Ohio State University has been working on a sustainability program for decades. In 2015, formal goals were set to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and a number of other resource stewardship goals to achieve by 2025: increasing locally sourced food, increasing ecosystem services, reducing potable water consumption, reaching zero waste, increasing energy efficiency, and developing standards for preferred products. The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center developed a formal program around 2017, and then joined the Health Care Climate Council and the Health Care Climate Challenge in 2020 to support its sustainability goals.
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is implementing multiple sustainability strategies through a small team of dedicated employees. The sustainability program encompasses all medical center facilities and integrates the university resource stewardship goals into all we do such as obtaining supplies, diverting waste, and tracking energy use with smart meters that can obtain real-time data on utility usage throughout the buildings. The medical center also prioritizes sustainability in the operating room by switching to a lower greenhouse gas emissions alternative anesthesia and incorporating low-flow strategies and diverting clinical plastics. The medical center has purchases a bedpan made of 90 percent recycled materials, integrated through their sustainable procurement guidelines.
The Ohio State University partners with ENGIE North America, a commercial electricity provider, and Axium, a manager of infrastructure assets to increase energy efficiency. In fiscal year 2022, all medical center-owned buildings decreased energy use intensity by 4.7 percent from fiscal year 2020 and approximately 29 percent of the electricity supplied to the medical center at main campus and off-site medical center locations was carbon neutral with renewable energy credits. OSU also has adapted the College of Medicine’s curriculum to include sustainability education.
Through green building efforts, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is recycling 98 percent of the waste materials from an under-construction inpatient hospital. The smart meters installed in the buildings have helped the sustainability team identify reduction strategies, culminating in a 5 percent reduction from fiscal year 2020.The medical center has reduced desflurane in the operating room by 48 percent, resulting in nearly $300,000 in cost savings over three years.
By aoguagha | Categories: | Comments Off on Diabetes Prevention Program
More than one-third of Rhode Islanders are prediabetic. In 2017, the Lifespan Community Health Institute, as part of Rhode Island Hospital, partnered with the City of Providence’s Healthy Communities Office to deliver the Diabetes Prevention Program to Providence residents. Since then, the program has grown and targets all eligible Rhode Island residents. The Diabetes Prevention Program, an evidence-based program, teaches people at risk for developing diabetes how to implement a healthy lifestyle with the goal of preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes. The program is available in English and Spanish and offered to participants at no cost.
Currently, the Lifespan Community Health Institute (LCHI) contracts with the Rhode Island Department of Health to deliver the Diabetes Prevention Program to all eligible Rhode Island residents. Free to participants, the program offers weekly one-hour sessions with a trained lifestyle coach to learn and maintain healthy lifestyle behaviors, peer support, healthy at-home meal recipes, and childcare and transportation assistance. Additionally, LCHI currently contracts with the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island to offer the program to eligible State of Rhode employees and their beneficiaries. Learn if you qualify here.
The Lifespan Community Health Institute is one of only two CDC Recognized Organizations offering the Diabetes Prevention Program in Rhode Island that has achieved Full Plus recognition. Full Plus recognition means that a program has demonstrated effectiveness by achieving all of the performance criteria related to the Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program Standards and Operating procedures.
By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on Fresh for You Market
Eskenazi Health has a strong belief in the concept of food as medicine, a pillar of the health system’s Beyond Barriers campaign. In Indianapolis, 41 percent of children younger than age 5 suffer from malnutrition, and in Marion County, 21 percent of residents live in a food desert. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 200,000 county residents identified as food insecure. Through the Fresh for You Market and the Fresh for You Market on Wheels, Eskenazi Health is combating food insecurity in the community and providing residents with access to nutritional and affordable food.
The Fresh for You Market, a grocery store and food pantry, is located on the Eskenazi Health downtown campus on a bus route easily accessible to the community. The self-sustaining Market is open to the public, and proceeds from sales directly fund the Fresh for You Market voucher program. This program provides patients who screen positive for food insecurity during clinic visits with free food vouchers to shop at the market. The Fresh for You Market on Wheels is a mobile version of the market that parks at a different location throughout Indianapolis each weekday. A nutrition navigator on board helps patients pick foods for specific diets and conditions, and a chef prepares hot meals and hosts cooking demonstrations.
The Fresh for You Market and Market on Wheels would not be possible without community partners. The downtown market partners with a local food bank, and the market on wheels partners with local produce vendors, public transportation, the Indiana Department of Health, and other government agencies.
Since opening in June 2017, the Fresh for You Market has been a key food resource for patients, residents, and health system staff. In the first full year of operation, the Market served 6,200 people. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the market opened to health system employees working long hours who were unable to make it to the grocery store. The Fresh for You Market on Wheels, launched in July 2023, is making its way to for access to food in a social needs screening.
By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on Beyond Barriers
After discovering significant disparities in age expectancy from zip codes only 16 miles apart in Marion County, Ind., Eskenazi Health acted to find solutions to enhance the health of the community it serves. Thus, the $60 million campaign titled, Beyond Barriers, takes a multidisciplinary approach to three main areas: health care, mental health care, and food as medicine. The goal of the campaign is to create life expectancy equity for everyone in the city of Indianapolis through an integrated and sustainable model of community infrastructure improvement.
The program serves Eskenazi Health’s patient population and surrounding community. At the heart of Beyond Barriers are Health Equity Zones identified to improve access to health care, mental health care, and nutritional foods. Each zone is home to an Eskenazi Health Center where community health care workers work one-on-one with patients at appointments and home visits. During this time, they screen patients for social determinants of health and help with self-management goals to promote positive health behaviors. The campaign also sustains mental health professional recruitment, upgrades mental health facilities, and expands the John & Kathy Ackerman Mental Health Professional Development Center. Another important aspect of Beyond Barriers is the Fresh for You Market, which provides fresh and affordable foods to patients and families who lack access to affordable food options.
Eskenazi Health engages with education, transportation, public health, housing, food pantries, and other industries to expand existing programs and create and support new programming and services. By working with these entities, Eskenazi Health can focus on long-term social determinants of health and improving quality of life for all Central Indiana residents.
Launched in 2017, the Fresh for You Market, located at Eskenazi Health’s downtown campus, has helped patients and families access affordable and healthy groceries. In its first full year of operation, the market fed 6,200 people from under-resourced and underserved communities and improved the quality of life of those served. In summer 2023, the Fresh for You Market launched a mobile food pantry, Fresh for You Market on Wheels, which is parked in various locations around Indianapolis each weekday based on patient needs indicated in social needs screenings.
By Hannah Lambalot | Categories: | Comments Off on Institute for H.O.P.E. School Health
A decade ago, Cleveland public schools were plagued with chronic absenteeism and stagnant academic achievement, with a graduation rate of just 52.2 percent. At the same time, The MetroHealth System noticed declining pediatric primary care visits, increasing emergency department use, and gaps in children’s health outcomes. A health system assessment revealed a strong need for asthma management, well-child exams, immunizations, and other primary care and mental health screenings and services.
In 2013, MetroHealth opened the first Institute for H.O.P.E.TM school health program clinic in a converted classroom at an elementary school. Today, the program has expanded to more than two dozen sites and mobile units, selected based on assessed need. The clinics offer traditional medical care, as well as addressing behavioral health issues and social determinants of health. Every week, the team helps students and their families sign up for insurance, recognize lead exposure, and connect with community partners to find housing, pay rent, and more. The program also provides students coats, toothbrushes, backpacks, and school supplies.
The program is funded through philanthropic support, Medicaid billing, and the health system’s general operations budget; its annual budget is on pace to exceed $1 million for 2022.
Compared with a baseline, program enrollees were 64 percent more likely to be up to date on immunizations, 38 percent more likely to have attended one or more primary care visits, and 22 percent more likely to have had an annual well-child exam. At the first participating high school, attendance rates exceeded 94 percent and enrollees had eight fewer absences on average and a grade-point average 0.41 higher than other students.
By Hannah Lambalot | Categories: | Comments Off on Congregational Health and Educational Network
Nashville General Hospital (NGH) established the Congregational Health and Educational Network (CHEN) to create resources for the underserved in our community addressing health equity by focusing on further educational attainment. CHEN represents a community-focused collaborative that bridges the gap between education and health, via local congregations. Additionally, CHEN encourages ongoing opportunities to provide unique education and/or health programming to the underserved.
Through CHEN benefits for member faith-based organizations, parishioners access no-cost health screening, CHEN Wellness Academy classes on chronic disease, health literacy and more, faith-based leaders access CU sessions to improve their interaction with congregant health challenges, all members have access to educational toolkits to assist parents for children k-13 and more. Staffing support is 2.2 FTE and resources are currently provided by the hospital until grants are initiated.
The no-cost screening will be managed by a NGH Nurse Navigator who also serves as a consistent conduit for all congregants and faith-based leaders wishing to access NGH healthcare. The members and HBCUs are stepping up to provide access to their own congregational programming by extending to CHEN members. Additional identification of assets to reach out to CHEN members is still being developed.
CHEN is truthfully too new to offer outcomes at the present time. However, all program offerings will sustain pre and post assessment and results will be available upon request.
for information – see www.nashgenfoundation.org/CHEN
By Hannah Lambalot | Categories: | Comments Off on Food Pharmacy
The Food Pharmacy originally began as a food pantry, but like most essential hospitals this meant the demand may outstrip the NGH Foundation’s funding resources to maintain the program. Hence, Nashville General Hospital focuses on patients with food insecurity who also have a diagnosis of chronic illness or cancer. The goal is to provide prescribed food supplementation to the patient’s diet which offers education for long term food choices for chronic illness self-management or completion of infusion services.
Patients are identified through the emergency department, outpatient clinic, inpatient dismissal or oncology infusion services. The NGH Foundation is currently funding all of the food, staffing needs, and recruiting community volunteers through grants. The hospital is providing in-kind, the Food Pharmacy square footage, care management team members for some education, dietary staff oversight, and the infrastructure of the referral departments to recommend patients.
The program relies on patient flow from the emergency department, outpatient, inpatient, and oncology. Additionally, patient outcomes for diabetes, hypertension, and oncology compliance with the Food Pharmacy are tracked through clinics and oncology. External community partners provide food, volunteers and funds.
Early results for oncology patients using the Food Pharmacy for the past three years reveal 100% of patients on the program maintaining or gaining weight – preventing pause in chemo services due to toxicity. Outcomes for chronically ill patients is still too new to offer reliable data until January 2020.
By Hannah Lambalot | Categories: | Comments Off on Lyft Partnership and Vouchers
Denver Health formed a partnership with Lyft to provide no-cost rides to recently discharged patients or those in need of transportation to and from outpatient clinic appointments. The program began in the ED and expanded after three months to include the hospital and outpatient clinics. Hospital and clinic staff request and track Lyft rides for patients, and the Denver Health Foundation funds the service at an average cost of $8.50 per ride, with a 25-mile limit. Now in its third year, the program has provided more than 5,000 rides. Denver Health also offers no-cost bus tickets, cab vouchers, and a car service using a vehicle donated by Oprah Winfrey to those patients with limited resources. The “Oprah” car is staffed by local retired community residents on a volunteer basis.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Food as Medicine
Cuyahoga County, home to The MetroHealth System, ranks highest in Ohio for the greatest number of food insecure adults and children. To impact health outcomes for patients identified as food-insecure and who have chronic health conditions, MetroHealth opened a new food clinic, with a pantry, “Food as Medicine,” on their main campus. The Food as Medicine Clinic is a targeted food-based intervention designed to address food insecurity as a social determinant of health, and improve health outcomes for patients with certain chronic health conditions that are common in MetroHealth’s patient population and are impacted by diet.
The Food as Medicine clinic works on a referral basis, where MetroHealth case managers and social workers refer patients based on a food insecurity screen and medical criteria. Patients enrolled in the pilot program must screen positive for food insecurity at the time of hospital discharge, have a primary care physician at MetroHealth, and have uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension or acute exacerbation of heart failure. Once prescribed, patients can select a two-to-three-day supply of healthy foods for themselves and family twice a month, stocked by the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, which include whole grains, dairy, fresh and frozen produce, canned fruits and vegetables, and meat products. Additionally, a diet technician will provide nutritional education and assistance in the clinic, along with information about healthy cooking. For patients in need of transportation assistance, a bus or parking pass can be provided to and from the clinic. The pilot phase of this program aims to serve 100 patients.
Citizen’s Bank, through their Citizens Helping Citizens Fight Hunger program, provided the initial investment to help develop the Food as Medicine pilot program and food clinic. Additional funds have been received from Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation and The Reinberger Foundation who have recently approved two-year grants to support and sustain the program. The Greater Cleveland Food Bank continuously stocks the clinic’s pantry. Students pursuing nutrition-related degrees from area colleges provide volunteer support for the program.
MetroHealth is starting with a 100-person pilot to measure the effects of the Food as Medicine intervention on eating habits, particularly fruit and vegetable consumption, healthcare utilization (hospitalization and ED visits), and clinical measures such as hemoglobin A1c, blood pressure, and BMI. This is a relatively new program and still in the enrollment phase; MetroHealth is just beginning to collect 3-month follow-up surveys to assess preliminary outcomes.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Flavor Harvest@HOME
Studies indicate that as many as 1 in 3 patients 65 or older are at risk for malnutrition upon admission. Without proper treatment, approximately 2/3 of malnourished individuals will experience further decline in their health status due to increased risk of infection, pneumonia, etc, which is then posing financial risk to the health system.
In late 2013 Lee Health System assessed their treatment of malnourished patients, and identified that only 1.3% were diagnosed as malnourished. Knowing that 45% of patients were 65 or older, they recognized a need to change the way they address this medical need. Initially the program was piloted at one hospital, and once outcomes were validated it was expanded to all acute and post acute facilities. The primary goal of the program is to assist patients in their recovery by facilitating their transition from Acute Care to Self Care through the provision of appropriate nutrition, which when properly administered has proven to improve recovery, limit costs, and reduce readmission rates.
Flavor Harvest@Home is an in home medical nutrition therapy program designed to provide nutritional support for the home bound patients who are either diagnosed and/or at risk for becoming malnourished. Flavor Harvest@Home provides therapeutically appropriate meals to home bound patients recently discharged from the hospital delivered to their doorstep for 4 weeks free of charge. A full array of therapeutic meals covering all meal periods, snacks and beverages are available to patients either through direct intervention by their caregiver or a nutrition call center.
Flavor Harvest@Home is part of a 4 component nutritional intervention plan designed to improve patient recovery times. Incorporating many of the Alliance for Advanced Nutrition’s multidisciplinary Nutrition intervention framework, the program includes: (1) nutrient dense food and/or nutrition home meal delivery, (2) nutrition education for clinical providers for better identification of malnourishment risk, improved screening tools and increased nutrition assessment, (3) nutritional counseling with patients and families, and (4) coordination of nutritional care during and after hospital discharge. The Flavor Harvest@Home project is designed to measure the effectiveness of an enhanced interdisciplinary nutrition intervention program on targeted hospital patients with a state of malnutrition or at risk for malnutrition.
This model is a multidisciplinary effort that requires coordination with clinical professionals, registered dietitians, providers, food service staff and third-party contractors.
Readmission rates in the program participants continue to show improvement. Between 2015 and March 2017, 1,259 patients qualified for the program. To date, over 1500 patients have completed the full 4 weeks of meals.
