Blog Archives
By Hannah Lambalot | Categories: | Comments Off on Neighborhood Transformation
Henry Ford Health System, in Detroit, is involved in a 300-acre neighborhood transformation that will include mixed-income housing surrounding the new Henry Ford Cancer Institute. In partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation and the City of Detroit, Henry Ford is working to make the newly renovated community and the area surrounding Henry Ford Hospital’s main campus more bikeable and walkable to promote healthier lifestyles and create easier access to and from the hospital.
Since 2018 the health system has partnered with Lyft, SPLT, Signature LLC and Ford Mobility GoRide to specifically address patient transportation as a social determinant of health. Over 1500 round trip rides have been provided to and from appointments for patients across nine departments. In 2019, the health system is working on addressing transportation and additional social determinants of health through the same service offerings.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Housing is Health
Central City Concern (CCC) responded to Portland’s crisis in housing and homelessness with the Housing is Health campaign, initiated by CCC’s executive director and health system CEOs. With a lead gift of $21.5 million by a pioneering collaboration of six local hospitals and health organizations—Adventist Health Portland, CareOregon, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Legacy Health, Oregon Health & Science University and Providence Health & Services–Oregon—the Housing is Health initiative will bring homes, health, and healing into the Portland community where they are needed most.
The Housing is Health initiative is an unprecedented push to build 379 new homes designed specifically for individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. These buildings are spread across three separate locations, one of which is anchored by a critically needed health care clinic. All locations will offer residents a variety of support services, including substance use disorder recovery support, mentoring, life skills training, and help re-entering the workforce.
Housing is Health enables health care systems to work together to address social determinants of health such as housing and employment. Central City Concern’s Recuperative Care Program (in the Blackburn Building) gives homeless people who are exiting hospital stays more time to get better in a safe environment. Employment specialists in the Housing is Heath collaborative help residents to enter/reenter the workforce.
All three Housing is Health buildings are under construction. Charlotte B. Rutherford Place (51 family-housing apartments) in North Portland and Hazel Heights (153 work-force apartments) in Southeast Portland will open summer 2018. The Blackburn Building (51 units of respite care housing, 124 units of transitional housing, as well as a primary care clinic and pharmacy) will open in 2019.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on 500 in 5 campaign (housing development)
This program originated from Truman Medical Center’s behavioral health program (TMCBH). TMCBH’s homeless outreach services needed access to housing units to stabilize behavioral health clients with multiple health care needs that were routinely rotating through the emergency department (ED). They renegotiated a state contract that had unused funds and secured a partnership with a supportive housing developer. A local university did a brief market analysis to help determine the number of units that could have a significant impact in the community. This led to a 5-year campaign to develop 500 units of housing in the metro area while measuring impact on healthcare and treatment.
The hospital does not allocate any direct resources. Medicaid pays for support services for most tenants served, and HUD pays for non-Medicaid reimbursed support services for those pending Medicaid and the chronically homeless. HUD dollars or Missouri Department of Mental Health monies are used to pay rental assistance, and private foundation dollars are sometimes used to fill gaps. In year one, the program has been targeting chronically homeless individuals that frequent the ED and transition-aged youth at risk of homelessness.
TMCBH partners with organizations on a project by project basis, including the Vecino Group, the Corporation for Supportive Housing, local non-profits, and multiple community landlords. When targeting transition-aged youth with mental illness, the program partnered with a local private university that had vacant dorm space to create four units of supportive housing while also enrolling the youth in college (with private foundation monies). For chronically homeless individuals, program staff secured a local landlord and master-leased 20 units with HUD and state dollars. TMCBH agreed to provide on-site staffing for 40 hours per week and keep the units filled so there are no vacancies longer than 30 days. Collaborations are specific to the population being housed.
TMCBH launched the campaign in October 2017 and have secured 25 units with an additional 45 under development. An initial report demonstrated a 68% reduction in ED visits for 22 clients in the first 6 months of housing. Research will be collected every 6 months to evaluate impact.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Vita Health and Wellness District
In 2000, Stamford Hospital (SH) partnered with Charter Oak Communities (COC) to expand and redevelop their respective real estate holdings on Stamford’s West Side. The 2013 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) identified the neighborhood as a priority due to its disproportionate share of chronic diseases. The CHNA results, along with the Affordable Care Act’s emphasis on addressing the upstream causes of disease, prompted Stamford Hospital to undertake a series of strategic investments in the surrounding community. Stamford Hospital and COC crafted a unique exchange of owned properties that enabled both to complete a series of complex redevelopment projects, including a new hospital and hundreds of housing units. This relationship led to the Vita Community Collaborative in 2012, which aims to promote health and wellness in the West Side neighborhood. Vita developed an interactive tool, entitled Vita Impact designed to show the linkages between targeted social initiatives and other characteristics that can broadly impact a community.
The Vita Health and Wellness district has become a health-themed neighborhood where numerous distressed public housing projects have been replaced with lower-density, mixed-income communities with dedicated resident support services, public green spaces, an independent pharmacy, and a revitalized hospital and campus. Each aspect of Vita addresses the social determinants of health, including healthy housing, economic stability, education and attainment, public health and access to medical care, physical activity and improved social cohesion. The core of Vita includes hundreds of new mixed-income, townhouse-style communities (with more under construction). Vita’s unique volunteer-powered urban farm (www.FairgateFarm.com) hosts numerous community-building programs such as nutrition education, cooking classes, food waste composting, and food security. Residents of the Vita community are afforded access to non-emergent medical care with two federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) serving patients on Medicaid and Medicare along with the underinsured, and the Americares Free Clinic, which provides primary care for uninsured patients who do not qualify for any government funded programs. Stamford Hospital supports the entire Vita initiative by contributing to its operating budget and providing dedicated in-kind staff support.
Stamford Hospital and Charter Oak Communities provide the essential backbone support to the Vita initiative, which includes program management, administrative services, communications and public relations, program evaluation, fund raising and strategic leadership. Vita Collaborative members represent nearly every discipline among community organizations including healthcare, public health, mental health, human services, education, food security, affordable housing and local government representation. Stamford Hospital also provides nutritionists, data analysts, and clinical staff to participate in planning and program implementation. Stamford Hospital completed construction on its new hospital and redeveloped campus, investing $450 million, and Charter Oak Communities has completed nearly 400 units of mixed-income housing through its strategic application of public and private resources – totaling an investment of over $200 million.
Each year, Fairgate Farm engages hundreds of participants and volunteers including students of all ages, corporate and civic volunteers, gardening enthusiasts and ‘foodies’, and numerous local residents. In 2017, the Farm grew over 4,000 pounds of organic fruits and vegetables, donating much of it to local hunger relief organizations. The Parents-as-Co-Educators program, designed to improve Kindergarten readiness for children of immigrant families, had a 100% success rate in its 2015-2018 cohort. This program has been rigorously measured through its partnerships with the Harvard Business School Community Partners and the University of Connecticut. A second cohort is planned to begin in the fall of 2018.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Spartanburg’s Way to Wellville
In 2015, Spartanburg was one of five communities in the nation chosen to participate in the Way to Wellville; a challenge to develop new and innovative solutions that amplify and accelerate community health. Sponsored nationally by HICCup, Spartanburg’s Way to Wellville is working to improve health outcomes through five focus areas in the City of Spartanburg: obesity prevention; kindergarten readiness; access to care for the uninsured; health for the insured; and community pride.
A Core Team of cross-sector leaders serves as the key navigator for Spartanburg’s Way to Wellville. This leadership group monitors progress, supports committees in meeting their goals, and explores and evaluates other potential partnerships and related opportunities. Way to Wellville committees create goals and develop specific projects and programs for each of the five focus areas. The hospital and participating organizations leverage resources and equally share the expenses of the Coalition. Although the Way to Wellville focuses on all residents in the City of Spartanburg, particular emphasis is placed on the vulnerable and the very young.
Hospital leadership sit on the core team and look for multiple ways to include the health system in the work. Programs working to find access for the uninsured, a small business wellness cooperative, home visitation programs for new moms…..all involve the health system in some way.
The Way to Wellville explores innovative and creative ways to address critical health issues in the City of Spartanburg. Examples include:
- A major initiative to introduce nine programs that would be available to all new mothers and the 650 babies born in the city each year is underway. From home visitation to parenting classes to quality early learning, they are working on a pay-for-success model of financing and look forward to rolling out in 2019.
- A prototype of a small business wellness cooperative is currently being built and a pilot will launch mid- 2018. This will allow small business owners to provide similar resources to their employees that large employers do.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on UMass Memorial Medical/Legal Partnership
The partnership of the UMass Memorial Legal Department and Community Legal Aid, Inc. (CLA) assists low income, Medicaid-eligible families in addressing socially complex living conditions that adversely affect health. Recently, CLA was a key partner in the pediatric asthma prevention pilot program, a model that has expanded into a comprehensive, multi-sectoral, citywide intervention. The relationship targets patients and leverages pro bono services with several law firms and volunteer lawyers to address the multiple social factors that impact patient health. Recognizing that the most vulnerable populations require a much broader intervention that goes beyond medical care, the program screens patients at three community-based clinics about social determinants of health: access to fresh food, home environment, employment and educational attainment. Through CLA training and support, the dedication of clinical staff and a shared vision, UMass is working to change lives.
Through this collaboration with Community Legal Aid, Inc. (CLA) the activities of the Medical-Legal Partnership will be integrated into several UMass Memorial primary care clinical sites serving low-income, Medicaid-eligible populations in central Massachusetts.
Since its launch in 2016, the program has served approximately 70 people annually.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Veggie Mobile
The Regional Environmental Council (REC) developed the Grant Square Community Garden in 2010 with support from UMass Memorial Medical Center and the City of Worcester. It has 30 raised beds maintained by the REC YouthGROW program and neighborhood residents. The youth tended garden generates between 500-800 pounds of produce for the neighborhood and 15 stops in food-insecure areas across the city through REC’s “Veggie Mobile” mobile farmers market, including three stops in Bell Hill. Medical Center funding doubles the value of food stamps for purchase at the Veggie Mobile.
UMass Memorial Medical Center partners with the Worcester Regional Environmental Council (REC) to bring fresh produce to low-income/food-insecure neighborhoods through the Veggie Mobile program. Funding provided by UMass Memorial Medical Center to the Worcester Regional Environmental Council doubled SNAP purchases on the Veggie Mobile. REC’s Food Justice Program works to increase access to nutritious, healthy, and locally grown food in Worcester’s food-insecure neighborhoods, including Bell Hill where the UMass Memorial campus is located. REC programs encompass a community garden, three school gardens, a YouthGROW urban farm, and the Veggie Mobile which makes 15 weekly stops in all five of the Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Areas identified in the city.
Since 2012, SNAP and EBT purchases on the Veggie Mobile have increased from 30% of sales, to 90% currently. Total purchases have increased by 300 percent.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Hurley Medical Center Food FARMacy
After reviewing other hospital programs which address social determinants of health (via America’s Essentials Hospitals and Advisory Board), Administrator of Population Health, Alisa Craig, developed a strategy that was approved by Hurley Senior Leadership. This resulted in hospital-wide screening (2-questions) for food insecurity and referral to the Food FARMacy (opened 8/1/17) if screening was positive. Hurley Medical Center’s (HMC) vision is to expand beyond the walls of the hospital to provide the best possible care to our community. By truly treating “hunger as a health issue”, Hurley is taking an important step in addressing social determinants of health within very vulnerable populations. With the rate of food insecurity being higher in Genesee County than the national average, addressing this issue proactively will have a tremendous impact on a patient’s ability to manage a chronic disease or fight illness. This is extremely important in children and older adult populations who have high rates of food insecurity. Hurley Medical Center’s Food FARMacy addresses the issue of food insecurity in their patient population by increasing access to healthy foods and providing them with additional resources to assist them long-term.
In August 2017, Hurley began screening for food insecurity (within their electronic medical record – EPIC) and providing referrals to the newly opened Food FARMacy. Upon discharge from inpatient units or outpatient primary care clinics, a patient who gets this referral can get nutritious food for themselves and their household members, twice per month, for three months. The food provided is tailored based on their health needs, chronic conditions, and allergies. The patients have the opportunity to meet with a Registered Dietitian while at the FARMacy, and are given community resources for longterm support. Assistance is provided to make sure the patients are appropriately enrolled in benefits such as SNAP, WIC, and Double Up Food Bucks.
By addressing their food insecurity, patients will be able to better manage their chronic conditions, not have to make as many financial “trade-offs” (like having to choose to pay for medicine vs. food), and may have improvements in health status. Hurley provides the physical space for the Food FARMacy, which is co-located within the Adult Diabetes Center. Funding for a part-time dietitian and food comes from a Community Foundation grant. Program staff work closely with the IT department (EPIC) to establish the screening/referral/reporting process.
Collaboration is key, both internally and externally. The EPIC (EMR) team is crucial in this project, and staff has engaged all levels of nursing, nursing management, nursing education, residents, and the GME dept. Externally, staff work very closely with the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan to get most of the food. They also supplement via local gardens (MSU-E Edible Flint) and growers. Volunteers come from the hospital’s foundation volunteer services, students from the MSU School of Human Medicine’s Leadership in Medicine for the Underserved, and AmeriCorps team members via Pediatric Public Health Initiative. Funding is provided from the hospital, hospital foundation, and the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.
Funding through the Community Foundation of Greater Flint;
To date, close to 800 people have received food from the Food FARMacy, with new patients being referred daily. The need is great, and they have already seen a 35-53% Food Insecurity rate in primary clinic settings. In addition, the program has helped several patients get appropriately enrolled in nutrition assistance programs. Program staff hope to have more specific data, related to health outcomes, to share by July 2018.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Caught in the Crossfire
In 1993, Sherman Spears, a paraplegic former gunshot victim working at local CBO Youth ALIVE!, began visiting young gunshot wound (GSW) victims at the Oakland hospital where he had been treated. This became Caught in the Crossfire, the first hospital-based violence intervention program – now a national model.
The program serves youth and adult survivors of intentional injury (gunshot, stab wound, and physical assault) with immediate response upon hospital treatment in the golden moment when the patient is open to long-term support. Continuing post-discharge for 6-12 months, trained intervention specialists from the peer community of the patients will provide case management, mentoring, linkage to mental health and services, safety assessment/retaliation prevention, and other services in the field/community in order to prevent retaliation and reinjury and to promote physical, social, and emotional healing from trauma.
This program coordinates with hospital Administration, Social Services, and Trauma to access patient records, coordinate hospital access to visit patients, and to communicate about follow-up care. Community partners include Youth ALIVE!, Eden Medical Center, Children’s Hospital Oakland, Alameda County Emergency Medical Services, and the City of Oakland.
Program measures include positive outcomes such as attachment to mental health services, education/employment and housing, and reduction in negative outcomes such as arrests and injury recidivism. Without intervention, nationally, up to 44% of patients recidivate within 5 years. In the program, it is less than 3%.
By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on Nice Ride Community Partnership
The program started in 2016 as a collaboration between the mental health and cardiology teams at Hennepin County Medical Center, in an effort to implement a holistic approach to treating patients. Through this program, patients can make therapeutic lifestyle changes that reduce their risk of a heart attack or stroke — while simultaneously improving their mental health. Patients are given “prescriptions” to ride a bicycle as a form of treatment. With support from the Nice Ride MN bike share program, patients can rent a bicycle free of charge.
The Nice Ride Community Partnership serves adults with Serious and Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI) who participate in the program. The program is guided by the notion that better physical health equals better mental health. The program combines clinical goals from the William W. Jepson Day Treatment Program with the Comprehensive Cardiovascular Prevention Program (C2P2) to address multiple health concerns in their populations and track results over time. Nice Ride MN and U.S. Bank provide bicycles and funding for the program.
In its first year (2016), the program had 31 participants who logged a total of 957 hours. A cardiologist form Hennepin County Medical Center tracks participant progress over time.
