Blog Archives
By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on Healing and Opportunities with Psychotic Experiences (HOPE) Program
About 100,000 people in the United States each year experience a psychotic episode. Longer durations of untreated psychosis correlate with more severe symptoms, including less likelihood of remission and poorer vocational, academic, and social functioning. Hennepin Healthcare’s Healing and Opportunities with Psychotic Experiences (HOPE) Program provides early intervention for patients ages 15 to 40 experiencing an illness on the schizophrenia spectrum.
HOPE launched in 2016 through a federal mental health block grant. Program staff educate and collaborate with local organizations to provide referrals. An interdisciplinary team comprising a director, psychiatrists, nurse, individual and family psychotherapists, employment and education specialists, peer and family support specialists, and a psychiatric case worker provides empirically based treatment. Patients set treatment goals and participate in HOPE programming for an average of 18 months. Employment and education specialists collaborate with schools to build accommodations for HOPE patients. Since 2017, staff have taught local law enforcement agencies about psychosis and de-escalation techniques. Staff also developed educational materials for patients and families on safely managing crises in the community.
Since 2016, HOPE has treated 329 patients. Reduction in symptom severity from time of enrollment to time of discharge increased from 60 percent in 2021 to 65 percent in 2023. Planned discharges increased from 60 percent of total caseload in 2020 to 79.3 percent in 2023. From 2017 to 2023, patients involved in work and/or school activities increased from 47 to 63 percent, and representation of people of color in the program increased from 55 percent to 76 percent.
By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on Memorial Mobile Health Center
Memorial Healthcare System has been a leader in mobile health since 2000. The mobile health program runs both pediatric and adult health vans, all with the goal of increasing access to care and intervention services for community members.
The mobile vans operate 21 days a month and offer free services and social needs screenings to community members, most of whom are under- or uninsured. The pediatric van offers immunizations, behavioral health services, well and sick visits, follow-up visits, and counseling events. The adult van also offers vaccines and sick visits but emphasizes helping patients apply for public assistance benefits, such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, if they are eligible. All vans are equipped with Memorial Healthcare staff, including two medical assistants, a nurse practitioner, and occasional residents.
To ensure the program meets patients’ needs, Memorial partners with many community organizations, including early learning services, homeless services, migrant services, food pantries, local universities, and local government to help identify locations to set up the clinics.
Memorial’s Mobile Health Center has built a trustful relationship with the community through its efforts. By caring for patients in the community, the vans also have reduced the burden on local emergency departments. The pediatric mobile van sees about 220 patients per month, and the adult mobile van sees about 490 patients per month.
By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on Pediatric Mobile Health
Hennepin Healthcare’s Pediatric Mobile Health program started during the COVID-19 pandemic with the goal of ensuring that children receive preventative care such routine childhood immunizations. The racial awakening occurring adjacent to the pandemic, which highlighted the long-standing lack of access to care in the community, also fueled the momentum behind the clinic. The mobile clinic team achieved its goal by going door-to-door providing well child checks and immunizations to children. The program since has implemented additional services, including primary pediatric care, partum care for the birthing dyad, referrals back to a medical home, specialty care or community resources for social needs.
The mobile clinic brings pediatric care to families who are hesitant and/or unable to visit the hospital or off-site clinic. Full-time staff, including a nurse practitioner or pediatrician, pediatric provider trainee, and an emergency medical technician, operate the clinic. Staff also screen each family for social determinants of health. Patients who screen positive are referred to clinics or community organizations and resources to help families with their needs.
The program is grant-funded and bills insurance when appropriate. The program collaborates with other departments within the hospital, including the information technology department, to ensure the clinic has the bandwidth to document in electronic health records. The mobile clinic also partners with local schools and community organizations, such as Second Harvest Heartland to help families facing food insecurity and school districts and Head Start Centers to help with childcare resources.
The Pediatric Mobile Health Program has successfully increased access to care by ensuring continuity of care. When families are screened for social needs, community health workers ensure that patients follow through with referrals and applications are completed if necessary. The program also decreased Emergency Department visits, which helps lower costs and provider burnout.
By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on Rooftop Farm
Boston Medical Center’s (BMC’s) Rooftop Farms opened in 2017 as part of the Nourishing Communities program, which includes the Preventative Food Pantry and Teaching Kitchen. A second farm will open in the spring of 2024, bringing the total growing space to approximately square feet. With two farms, the program will yield 10,000 pounds of fresh, organically grown produce annually to distribute throughout the food pantry, a low-cost farmer’s market, and our kitchens. The farm partners with internal departments and organizations in the Boston area to host team–building, volunteer, and educational opportunities focused on growing food, nutrition, and green infrastructure.
The hospital employs two part-time farm staff who focus on food production, education, and community outreach. The program also sponsors two to four interns per year who assist the farm staff and earn experience in rooftop farming and community engagement. The program’s educational component reaches a wide swath of the community, from public school students to immigrant groups, to patients, employees, and clinical staff. For example, the farm reported more than 1,300 visits in 2023. in 2023, 50 percent goes to patients facing food insecurity who visit the food pantry, 41 percent goes to the general community through the low-cost farmers market, and 10 percent goes to the kitchens.
Since opening seven years ago, the rooftop farm has grown approximately 30,000–35,000 pounds of food for community members, with approximately 75 percent directly reaching those who are low–income or experiencing food insecurity. The original farm also has engaged individuals in tours, volunteer days, and educational events more than 9,000 times, providing community members with a forum to connect with each other, learn about green innovation, and experience a hospital space that builds healthy communities in multiple ways. With a second farm opening, BMC expects to double its impact and continue to grow its community partnerships, aiming to support fair Boston food system that provides workforce development, climate resilience, and nourishing food for all people.
To learn more about the Rooftop Farm, please visit this link.
By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on Sustainability Program
Boston Medical Center (BMC) began its sustainability journey in 2012 after recognizing that the communities it serves are disproportionately affected by climate change. Implementing sustainability efforts is part of the health care the hospital provides, with a focus on improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, decreasing operating costs, and increasing access to care. BMC first reassessed its real estate portfolio to maximize the impact of every square foot, which led to the sale of several real estate assets. The proceeds then were used to upgrade other buildings for increased energy efficiency. BMC reduced 300,000 square feet while increasing its capacity to care for patients: patient volumes increased by almost 30 percent.
BMC’s climate mitigation work covers a variety of entities that all aim to serve the local community. BMC is the largest safety net hospital in New England; 73 percent of the hospital’s patients are covered by public insurance, and many reside in communities facing environmental inequalities. In 2022, BMC opened the Brockton Behavioral Health Center, the first net-zero behavioral health facility in the United States. The center is powered by solar energy and heated by geothermal wells. Since spring 2017, Boston Medical Center has generated much of its own electricity and heat through a natural gas–fired, two-megawatt combined heat and power plant, also known as cogeneration. The plant operates at 70 percent efficiency compared with a typical gas-fired power plant’s 35 percent efficiency. It also has “black start” capability, meaning that if the electric grid goes down, the hospital can use the cogeneration plant in combination with a recently-installed Tesla battery system to heat and power its inpatient units on an “island” for months at a time, as long as it has a natural gas supply.
In 2016, BMC took a major step toward a carbon-neutral campus with an innovative solar purchase and partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Post Office Square Redevelopment Corporation. Through this partnership, BMC invested 255,000 solar panels across 650 acres in North Carolina. BMC purchases 26 percent of the power the solar facility produces, which is equivalent to 100 percent of BMC’s electricity consumption.
BMC’s reduced physical footprint and efforts to improve energy efficiency reduced utility costs significantly which generated savings that were reinvested back into patient care. Between 2011 and 2022, BMC reduced carbon emissions by 91 percent and electric consumption by 29 percent. These savings have enabled the reinvestment of funds in patient care and other sustainability projects, such as the opening of the Brockton Behavioral Health Center.
To learn more about BMC’s sustainability efforts, please visit their website through this link.
By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on Feed1st Program
In 2010, a group of University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine medical students, University of Chicago faculty, and Comer Children’s Hospital staff started the Feed1st program after one of the hospital Chaplains discovered many parents were going hungry at their child’s bedside during a hospital stay. The goal of the Feed1st program is to address hunger in the healthcare setting and minimize the stigma surrounding food insecurity.
The Feed1st program operates 11 food pantry sites throughout UChicago Medicine’s facilities, including the adult, pediatric, inpatient, and outpatient areas of academic health system’s South Side medical campus. The pantry sites are strategically located in emergency departments, patient waiting areas, family lounges, and a hospital retail cafeteria. The program primarily serves community members from the South Side of Chicago, which has some of the highest food insecurity rates in the city; however, the pantry sites are available to everyone in the UChicago Medicine community, including staff.
It takes a village to operate a hospital pantry program at this scale. The hospital and individual departments provide Feed1st with funding support and space for pantry shelves and storages; Clinical staff champions, medical students, undergraduates, and other volunteers keep the pantry sites and storages stocked regularly and well maintained.
The food in the pantry sites is provided by the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The UChicago Medicine Garden Committee also provides fresh produce during harvest seasons throughout the year. The Feed1st Community Advisory Committee, comprised of parents, patients, concerned community members, hospital administrators, faculty, students, and others, plays a consistent role in ensuring the program meets the needs of the people we serve. Feed1st engages clinical staff in individual departments to help monitor and restock pantry shelves and communicate with patients about the program.
the Feed1st program had distributed more than 94 tons of food to more than 88,000 people since opening in 2010. The UChicago Medicine Garden Committee has provided more than 6,000 pounds of fresh produce to the Feed1st pantry sites since May 2022. The Feed1st program also released a toolkit on how to launch a no questions asked food pantry system. To read the newest version of the Feed1st toolkit, click here.
By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on The Teaching Kitchen
Boston Medical Center’s (BMC’s) Teaching Kitchen is a leader in the Food is Medicine movement. One of the country’s first hospital-based culinary medicine programs, the kitchen has expanded to the local food system through partnerships with food growers, makers, and retailers. The Teaching Kitchen also helps combat nutrition-related health disparities by enhancing access to fresh produce and medically tailored foods, targeting behavior change to improve health outcomes, and leading research and best practices to enhance the field. The Teaching Kitchen supports BMC’s mission to deliver exceptional care without exception.
As the largest level I trauma center and safety net hospital in the Northeast, BMC serves a community that is racially diverse—45 percent non-Hispanic white or other, 25 percent Black, 20 percent Latino, 10 percent Asian—and under-resourced, with 72 percent of patients reported as low-income. The Teaching Kitchen is clinically integrated into the medical care model, serving pediatric and adult patients through prevention and disease management, and offers programming to staff, affiliated students, and the greater Boston community. The program is funded through philanthropy and operated by a manager who oversees culinary dietitians and partners with the senior manager to implement research and population health initiatives. Managers report to the senior director of support services, and operational costs are embedded within the department’s budget.
The Teaching Kitchen is an ancillary service to the health system, partnering with departments including outpatient nutrition, endocrinology, cardiology, and pediatrics to facilitate shared medical appointments and group visits. These partnerships enhance care through hands-on learning and peer support. In addition, the Teaching Kitchen partners with community organizations like Nubian Markets and the South End Community Health Center to offer services in community settings and foster community-led programs and interventions. To encourage innovation and future practice, the Teaching Kitchen also partners with Boston University to provide medical, dietetic, and dental students with culinary nutrition training and a formal elective through the School of Gastronomy.
The Teaching Kitchen offers an average of 300 classes per year for more than 2,000 patients and staff. Classes are held in-person classes, virtually through Zoom, or a combination of both. Class surveys suggest high approval rates, and reports indicate improved dietary patterns, culinary skills, and overall health. The Teaching Kitchen already has facilitated clinical trials, and results will be published.
To learn more about BMC’s Teaching Kitchen, please visit this link.
By aoguagha | Categories: | Comments Off on Project Outreach and Prevention (POP) on Youth Violence
The mission of Project Outreach and Prevention (POP) on Youth Violence is to prevent and alleviate youth violence, while inspiring healthy lifestyles, positive behaviors, and accessible career opportunities. The program provides outreach services, educational seminars, as well as college and career readiness opportunities for local youth. Through partnership with community organizations, POP creates a safe, fulfilling and academically enriching environment for teens at risk.
POP is rooted in four pillars: public health awareness, violence prevention, health professions enrichment, and intervention. The organization partners with Methodist’s outreach program, the Methodist ED/trauma department, Vituity ER Group, local law enforcement in four different districts, and other local partners to educate local teens on gun safety, provide mental health resources, offer career guidance, and more.
POP interacts with local teens in five local schools and provides crisis intervention business cards to all youth seen in the emergency department at Methodist Hospitals. The cards list conflict resolution principles and include the website for Students Against Violence Everywhere, a youth-led violence prevention initiative, as well as a crisis QR code with resources on mental health, violence prevention, and bullying. For more information visit https://poponviolence.org/
By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on Violence Intervention Program
The rate of gun violence–related injuries is increasing nationwide and is especially high among youth in Atrium Health’s community. Survivors of gun violence experience significant increases in mental health disorders and high pain, resulting in higher rates of readmissions. Along with adverse effects on survivors, the health system experiences a large financial burden stemming from violent injuries. Atrium Health’s violence intervention program aims to help victims of violent injuries target social determinants of health and make positive life changes to prevent violent injuries.
The program aims to assist patients ages 15–24 years old with violence-related injuries. When patients arrive at the hospital, a violence intervention specialist interviews them to assess social circumstances. The specialist will assist with urgent needs and then create long-term plans for connecting patients with community resources to assist with persistent problems. The program follows patients after discharge for three months or longer if needed. The City of Charlotte is the main partner and funding agency for this program.
Beyond the City of Charlotte, Atrium Health works with numerous internal and external partners. Internally, the program uses tools already created by Atrium Health’s other violence prevention programs, the Domestic Violence Healthcare Project and Carolinas Center for Injury Prevention. Externally, the program often refers patients to the Urban League of Charlotte, an employment assistance program for African American men.
Since January 2022, the program has connected 23 people with job readiness services, employment placement, and secondary education. Patients also sought assistance improving access to housing, food, and clothing.
By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on Mobile Medicine Program
Atrium Health launched two Mobile Medicine programs to improve access to care for their patient populations. Three Care Everywhere primary care units, along with Drive to Thrive, a mobile OB-GYN unit, aim to increase access to care by tackling transportation challenges, language barriers, and lack of insurance. Specifically, Care Everywhere brings clinical care to areas where traditional clinics may not be convenient or accessible, provides resources that help meet acute social needs, and connects patients to a primary care medical home. Drive to Thrive works to decrease unintended pregnancies via increased access to education and contraception and to connect patients in underserved communities to prenatal care earlier in their pregnancies to improve overall health outcomes.
The Mobile Medicine units park at different locations each weekday based on patient need. Atrium Health strategically chose locations using a data-informed approach that paired internal patient data with publicly available U.S. census data to target communities with the greatest health needs and social risk factors. Care Everywhere unit services include short-term and long-lasting health concerns, and Drive to Thrive primarily focuses on obstetrics and education. Neither program requires appointments, enabling patients to visit at their convenience. Both programs offer additional wellness services, such as referrals to other Atrium Health facilities and connections to resources for non–health care needs.
The Care Everywhere units were primarily funded by The Tepper Foundation and Truist Foundation, among other community funders. The Drive to Thrive unit received funding from a retired OB-GYN and other community donors. Both units required collaboration with nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and other community organizations to understand patient needs fully.
As a vertically integrated health care system, Atrium Health maintains an extensive inpatient and outpatient database of electronic health records that enables in-depth analysis of health care utilization and health outcomes across the system’s footprint. The Care Everywhere units launched in fall 2022, and the Drive to Thrive unit launched in January 2023. The Mobile Medicine program is expected to serve more than 480 patients by the end of 2023. Key program outcomes include increasing the establishment of ongoing support through placement with a primary medical home and connecting patients to care and social needs support through screening, diagnosis, and referrals to specialty care.
