10 Hospital Programs Win National Award for Impacting Underserved Communities

ATLANTA, Feb. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ten hospital outreach programs were awarded for their innovative approaches to impacting lives in local communities around the nation. Winning programs shared equally in $100,000 of unrestricted funds offered through the Hospital Charitable Services Awards, a national program sponsored by Atlanta-based Jackson Healthcare.

This year's community health programs spanned small-to-large cities in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Washington and Florida.

The ten "Programs of Excellence" included:

• Adaptive Sports and Recreation Program (Jacksonville, Florida) Through this program, Brooks Rehabilitation helps thousands of people with disabilities overcome inactivity and isolation through clinics, lectures, tournaments and multi-sport activities.
• Community Mental and Behavioral Health Initiative (Anacortes, Washington) This program, funded by Island Hospital's Foundation, takes on the challenge of overcoming Washington's barriers to mental health access through an outpatient clinic — the first public hospital-sponsored clinic of its kind in the state.
• Food to Overcome Outcomes Disparities (FOOD) (New York City, New York) Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has improved food security for underserved cancer patients by creating medically-tailored food pantries in local hospitals throughout New York City.
• Global Health Program (Boston, Massachusetts) Established in 2010, this Mass General Hospital program works to improve access to safe perioperative care by working directly with local healthcare workers in low income countries throughout the world.
• Kids Place (Newark, Ohio) This child advocacy center, located within Licking Memorial Hospital, provides a safe place for child abuse victims and has effectively helped children and families reduce the long-term impact of abuse trauma.
• Medical Home Project (Allentown, Pennsylvania) This Lehigh Valley Hospital program increases care coordination between hospital personnel and patients with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
• School Nurse Program (Charlevoix, Michigan) Munson Healthcare Charlevoix Hospital has given more than 3,000 students access to needed healthcare through onsite registered nurses.
• Snider Community Heart Watch (Lancaster, Ohio) After multiple cases of sudden cardiac arrest in young people in its community, Fairfield Medical Center employees launched this program to create a heart safe community.
• Tipping the Scale Adolescent and Advocacy Intervention Mentoring Program (Jacksonville, Florida) Begun as a pilot in 1999, Baptist Health's mentoring program helps at-risk high school students increase their GPAs, graduate, develop career goals, increase self esteem and reduce incarceration.
• Volunteer Advocates for Seniors and Incapacitated Adults (Hammond, Indiana) Franciscan St. Margaret Health developed a model for protecting the health, well-being and safety of decisionally-incapable elderly and incapacitated adults through volunteer guardian services.

The ten winning programs were selected from a pool of 52 finalists. Each had to demonstrate excellence in community impact, innovation, collaboration, leading practices and replicability.

In addition to the ten Program of Excellence awardees, four hospital programs were recognized as Programs of Promise. Each received $2,500 in unrestricted funds to go toward their operations. These included:

• Sequatchie Valley Health Initiative (Dunlap, Tennessee) With the support of Erlanger Health System, this program is improving the health of one of the state's lowest ranked counties.
• Telehealth Lactation Consulting Program (Little Rock, Arkansas) Baptist Health's program distributed a telephone triage guide to every hospital and clinic in the state in an effort to give mothers living below the poverty line access to free 24/7 phone support.
• Union Parish: Together We Can Be Bully Free (Farmerville, Louisiana) Union General Hospital's anti-bullying program touches the lives of more than one thousand third through fifth graders each year.
• Universal Parenting Place (Memphis, Tennessee) Baptist Memorial Health Care's collaborative community program offers a judgment-free zone where parents can receive professional counseling, information and emotional support for family-related issues.

Jackson Healthcare instituted the Hospital Charitable Services Awards in 2010 to identify high-impact community health programs, share their stories and offer them as models for other communities to replicate. To date, sixty programs have been awarded for their excellence in impacting local communities.

About Jackson Healthcare 
Jackson Healthcare is built on a simple idea — that talented professionals with a shared purpose can improve the lives of patients, families and communities. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company has risen to a place of prominence among the largest healthcare staffing and technology companies in the U.S. It currently serves more than seven million patients in over 1,300 healthcare facilities.

In addition to serving health systems and providers, Jackson champions local, national and international charitable work. It founded and sponsors the Hospital Charitable Service Awards, which honors programs that set new standards for health and wellness in their communities through education, access and delivery. Atlanta Business Chronicle named Jackson Healthcare the city's "Best Place to Work" in 2014 and 2015 and "Healthiest Large Company" in 2015.

Visit JacksonHealthcare.com to learn more.

SOURCE Jackson Healthcare

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http://www.jacksonhealthcare.com