/ en Wed, 30 Jul 2025 15:19:28 -0500 Thu, 24 Jul 25 13:24:54 -0500 /role-hospitals-golisano-childrens-hospital-exploring-benefits-pediatric-mental-health-urgent-care-centers <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-6"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-07/ths-brighter-days-pediatric-mental-health-700x532.jpg" alt="Telling the Hospital Story: Golisano Children’s Hospital - Exploring the benefits of pediatric mental health urgent care centers. Image: Brighter Days Pediatric Mental Health Urgent Care Center exterior" width="700" height="532"></p></div><p><a href="https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/childrens-hospital/behavioral-health-wellness/pediatric-mental-health-urgent-care">The Brighter Days Pediatric Mental Health Urgent Care Center</a>, part of Golisano Children’s Hospital in Western New York, opened in June 2024 to provide walk-in mental health services for individuals under 18. The center is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of 30 professionals and can treat up to 3,000 patients annually. Brighter Days is the only facility of its kind outside the New York City area and fills a critical gap in pediatric mental health care, offering immediate support without the need for appointments. Its opening reflects a broader national trend, with over 20 similar centers opening across the U.S. in the past year to address the growing mental health crisis among children and adolescents.</p><p>These urgent care centers are reshaping mental health treatment by offering rapid access to care, easing pressure on emergency departments, and connecting patients to long-term support. They are especially vital as anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and substance-use disorders remain prevalent, with anxiety alone accounting for over 18% of top diagnoses in 2023.</p><p>The pandemic exacerbated mental health challenges, leading to a sustained increase in emergency visits for issues like self-harm and suicide among youth. Mental health urgent care centers help bridge the gap between emergency and long-term care, offering timely assessments, short-term treatment, and referrals.</p> <a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://sponsors.aha.org/index.php/email/emailWebview">LEARN MORE</a> </p> --><p> </p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/center/population-health">Improving Health and Wellness</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Thu, 24 Jul 2025 13:24:54 -0500 Promoting Healthy Communities /role-hospitals-sunrise-hospital-and-medical-center-nevada-patients-get-jolt-hope-new-heartbeat-tech <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="col-md-5"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-07/ths-sunrise-health-heart-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="Telling the Hospital Story. From stem cells to supernovas: Nevada patients get a jolt of hope with new heartbeat tech." width="700" height="532"></p></div><p>Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas recently introduced technology to treat heart rhythm disorders, building on the hospital’s earlier success using pulse field ablation — the delivery of electrical pulses to kill cells causing the irregular heart rhythm.</p><p>Sunrise’s new system is integrated with a sophisticated mapping system that allows doctors to more accurately identify and treat parts of the heart responsible for abnormal rhythms, called arrhythmias. Atrial fibrillation, a type of arrhythmia characterized by irregular and often very rapid heart rhythms, increases risk of stroke, heart failure and other conditions and can lead to blood clots in the heart.</p><p>"We are committed to providing our patients with the most innovative and effective treatments available," said Todd P. Sklamberg, Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center CEO. "This new technology underscores that commitment and will allow us to offer a new level of care for patients with complex cardiac arrhythmias."</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.sunrisehealthinfo.com/about-us/newsroom/sunrise-hospital-to-launch-innovative-cardiac-technology"><strong>LEARN MORE</strong></a></p></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/topics/innovation">Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Thu, 17 Jul 2025 13:10:17 -0500 Promoting Healthy Communities /role-hospitals-texas-health-harris-methodist-hospital-stephenville-helps-rural-community-breathe-easier <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-4"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-07/ths-texashealth-pulmonary-700x532.jpg" alt="Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville. Stock photo of an older man blowing into a tube" width="700" height="532"></p></div><p>At Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville, a new pulmonary rehabilitation program is transforming the way chronic respiratory diseases are treated in rural Erath County. Recognizing the urgent need for localized care, the hospital launched this initiative to help patients manage conditions like COPD, asthma and bronchitis — illnesses that are often more prevalent and underdiagnosed in rural areas.</p><p>“We wanted to offer the community a new program and prevent multiple hospital admissions from patients dealing with chronic breathing issues,” said Brandie Williams, M.D., medical director of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation program. “Our goal was to address the needs of Stephenville residents by meeting them where they live and helping them improve their breathing conditions and lifestyle.”</p><p>The 12-week program, housed within the hospital’s cardiac rehabilitation facility, offers more than just supervised exercise. “Pulmonary rehab will provide them with resourceful tools to manage their chronic conditions,” said Casey Accaputo, B.H.A., RRT, director of the Cardiopulmonary Program. “We offer the necessary nutritional guidance, effective breathing techniques and constant emotional support our patients need and deserve.”</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.texashealth.org/newsroom/News-Releases/2025/Texas-Health-Stephenville-Enhances-Respiratory-Care-in-Erath-County">LEARN MORE</a></p><p> </p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/center/population-health">Improving Health and Wellness</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Wed, 02 Jul 2025 11:18:35 -0500 Promoting Healthy Communities /role-hospitals-age-against-machine-uw-medicine-tool-predicts-your-bodys-true-age <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-4"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-06/ths-uwashington-health-octo-tool-700x532.jpg" alt="UW Medicine. A group of older adults walks on an outdoor track" width="700" height="532"></p></div><p>If you could predict your biological risk of death, would you want to know? Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle have developed a resource that does just that and more. Called the Health Octo Tool, this innovative health assessment method offers a more accurate and holistic view of how we age.</p><p>Unlike current methods that focus on individual diseases and overlook interactions among diseases and the impact of minor diseases, the tool uses eight metrics from routine exams and lab tests to better estimate biological age and predict risks of disability and death. What sets it apart is its emphasis on “health entropy,” a measure of accumulated molecular and cellular damage affecting organ function. Assessing organ systems, which age at different rates, provides a more nuanced understanding of overall biological aging.</p><p>“Collectively, these eight metrics — Body Clock, Body Age, system-specific clocks and rates, Speed- and Disability-based clocks — offer a way to view an individual’s aging process with information gathered from their medical history, physical exam and test results alone,” said Shabnam Salimi, M.D., a physician-scientist and acting instructor in the UW Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine and investigator at the UW Medicine Healthy Aging & Longevity Research Institute.</p><p>Researchers, drawing upon data from major aging studies, are now developing a digital app to help patients and their doctors determine the biological age of their bodies and organs, track the rates of aging, and evaluate the effects of lifestyle changes and treatments.</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://newsroom.uw.edu/news-releases/new-health-assessment-tool-gauges-bodys-biological-age">LEARN MORE</a></p><p> </p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/center/population-health">Improving Health and Wellness</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Wed, 25 Jun 2025 09:38:31 -0500 Promoting Healthy Communities /role-hospitals-mass-general-partners-matthew-perry-foundation-part-addiction-medicine-fellowship <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-5"><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-06/ths-umass-matthew-perry-sud-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="Mass General. tock photo of arms around the shoulders of a group counseling participant" width="700" height="532"></div><p>Massachusetts General Hospital, based in Boston, has partnered with the Matthew Perry Foundation to establish the Matthew Perry Foundation Fellowship in Addiction Medicine. For the 2025-2026 academic year, the inaugural fellow will join other clinicians in <a href="https://www.massgeneral.org/education/addiction-medicine-fellowship" target="_blank">MGH’s program for advanced training in addiction medicine</a>.</p><p>During the yearlong program, fellows in addiction medicine rotate throughout different departments across MGH and Mass General Brigham’s regional partnerships to gain the skills, insights and experience needed to become clinicians and leaders in addiction medicine, a field of growing need.</p><p>In 2022, more than 1 in 6 Americans age 12 or older reported experiencing a substance use disorder, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/treatment/index.html" target="_blank">according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>. Affecting people of all races, genders and income levels, SUD includes misusing alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs and prescription medications. SUD is a treatable, chronic disease, but the majority of people with SUD do not receive the care and treatment they need.</p><p>The Matthew Perry Foundation was established to honor the late American-Canadian actor Matthew Perry, who was committed to helping people struggling with SUD as he did. Perry died in 2023 due in part to a high dose of ketamine. The foundation works to increase awareness about the nature of addiction and to help eliminate stigma and barriers that prevent people from seeking and receiving care.</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/press-releases/mgh-and-matthew-perry-foundation-announce-fellowship" target="_blank">LEARN MORE</a></p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/topics/promoting-healthy-communities">Building Healthy Communities</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Wed, 25 Jun 2025 09:25:40 -0500 Promoting Healthy Communities /role-hospitals-evanston-regional-hospital-new-program-working-fill-gaps-wyomings-maternal-healthcare <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-5"><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-06/ths-evanston-intermountain-virtual-maternal-health-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="Evanston Regional Hospital. A pregnant woman sits at a kitchen table measuring her blood pressure and looking at a laptop" width="700" height="532"></div><p>The closure of labor and delivery services at Evanston Regional Hospital last December left a significant gap in prenatal care in southwestern Wyoming. Utah-based Intermountain Health has stepped in to fill the gap, ensuring that patients wouldn't be left without care. Through its recently launched Maternal Health Connections (MHC) program at Evanston Regional, expectant mothers now have regained access to comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care, including virtual monitoring of vital signs, mental health support, genetic counseling, and assistance for patients with substance use disorders. The program helps reduce the burden on patients who previously had to travel long distances for short appointments, often losing work hours and wages.</p><p>The program has already received about 25 referrals within a few weeks of operation. Nurse Courtney Bettinson said her patients have expressed gratitude that they don’t have to travel hours for essential care anymore. “This is my community, and it means a lot to me,” said Bettinson. “I will pour my professional heart and soul into this program.”</p><p>Bettinson and the team at MHC are dedicated to creating birth and postpartum plans for each patient, ensuring they are well-prepared for labor and delivery. The program aims to expand to other areas, such as Kemmerer, where labor services ended in 2022.</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/health/2025-04-30/a-new-program-is-working-to-fill-gaps-in-wyomings-maternal-healthcare" target="_blank">LEARN MORE</a></p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/topics/promoting-healthy-communities">Building Healthy Communities</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Mon, 23 Jun 2025 13:24:07 -0500 Promoting Healthy Communities /advancing-health-podcast/2025-06-18-food-medicine-how-cleveland-clinic-nourishing-community-health <p>What if access to fresh food could transform entire neighborhoods? In this conversation, Vickie Johnson, executive vice president and chief community officer at Cleveland Clinic, discusses how the medical center is confronting food insecurity by treating food as a vital part of health care. Combining data, community trust and local partnerships, Cleveland Clinic is nourishing long-term well-being — one neighborhood at a time.</p><hr><div></div><div class="raw-html-embed"><details class="transcript"> <summary> <h2 title="Click here to open/close the transcript."> <span>View Transcript</span><br> </h2> </summary> <p> 00:00:01:00 - 00:00:25:20<br> Tom Haederle<br> Welcome to Advancing Health. Food insecurity doesn't always mean not having enough to eat. It can also describe lack of access to healthy food. Coming up on this podcast, we learn more about Cleveland Clinic's broad strategy to provide opportunities for healthy eating to all of the communities it serves. As today's guest says, "we look at food as medicine." </p> <p> 00:00:25:23 - 00:00:52:14<br> Nancy Myers<br> Hi, I'm Nancy Myers from the ���������� Association. Thank you for joining us today as we have a great conversation planned with Vickie Johnson, who's the executive vice president and chief community officer for the Cleveland Clinic, based out of Cleveland, Ohio but with operations worldwide. Today, we'll be talking a little bit about how they're understanding and meeting the needs of both their patients and their communities as they seek to drive better health for all. </p> <p> 00:00:52:15 - 00:00:56:23<br> Nancy Myers<br> So, Vickie, thanks so much for joining us today. Appreciate you being here. </p> <p> 00:00:56:25 - 00:01:01:03<br> Vickie Johnson<br> You are welcome. And thank you for the invitation. It's an honor to be here. </p> <p> 00:01:01:09 - 00:01:07:06<br> Nancy Myers<br> Tell me a little bit about the work that you and your team lead at the Cleveland Clinic, just to ground us. </p> <p> 00:01:07:08 - 00:01:33:21<br> Vickie Johnson<br> Sure. So in 2023, Cleveland Clinic established the community health office. And I'm blessed to be the leader. As you said in the introduction, we are an enterprise with a global footprint. So it's my job to lead an awesome team at developing a strategy to care for every community in which we're located. And our objective is to build healthy communities together. </p> <p> 00:01:33:24 - 00:02:01:04<br> Vickie Johnson<br> We have a strategy that we'll talk about a little later to make sure that we use the same approach to engage with every community, so that the outcomes and the strategies that we have are locally relevant. So we're happy to do this work. We are a service line to every institute and department at Cleveland Clinic so when we discover the needs of our local communities, we work as a partner, a non-physician partner </p> <p> 00:02:01:04 - 00:02:12:09<br> Vickie Johnson<br> so we have a dyad partnership to work together to leave the walls of the hospital and go into the community where patients and community members are to address those needs together. </p> <p> 00:02:12:14 - 00:02:33:01<br> Nancy Myers<br> So I know that one area that you've been focusing on through the work of your team and over the last few years has been what some people would refer to as food insecurity. But your lens is a lot broader than that, or broader than just simply access to food. Can you tell us about the work to address nutrition that the Cleveland Clinic has undertaken? </p> <p> 00:02:33:03 - 00:03:02:24<br> Vickie Johnson<br> Yes, I'm happy to do that. So you're correct. So we look at food as medicine and we look at food as something that we can engage communities around. It's easy to understand that at the foundational level, everyone needs access to food, but it needs to be good food. So in the urban communities in which we're located sometimes it's not access to food, it's access to good food. </p> <p> 00:03:02:27 - 00:03:41:24<br> Vickie Johnson<br> We have patients and neighbors who shop at gas stations and convenience stores, and so they have something to eat, but it's not necessarily nutritious. So we've worked in partnership with the communities in which we're located, with local health departments, with the business community, our stakeholders, to figure out how we can leverage the economic impact that we have in each community to address nutrition, which then includes how do we leverage who we are to attract retailers who will provide nutritious food so access to better food options. </p> <p> 00:03:41:27 - 00:04:06:04<br> Vickie Johnson<br> And then also how do we educate and work in collaboration with our community to understand how nutrition is a really big part of health. And children in particular, how they perform at school, and everything really is based on that foundational need that we all have. But we do not all have access to the same quality of food. </p> <p> 00:04:06:07 - 00:04:27:01<br> Nancy Myers<br> So it sounds like you're really taking a multi-pronged approach in terms of the strategies as you go from community to community that you serve. And I heard you mention retail partnerships and education. Can you maybe talk a little bit more about what some of your foundational strategies are in different communities that you're most proud of? </p> <p> 00:04:27:03 - 00:04:54:22<br> Vickie Johnson<br> Absolutely. So let me start even broader, first, to say that when we think about food, we looked at food from an enterprise perspective and as a health care provider. So food at the bedside. Food that we sell on our campuses. So the types of retailers and restaurants that we allow to have a presence on our campus that we sell to patients' families and caregivers. </p> <p> 00:04:54:29 - 00:05:22:15<br> Vickie Johnson<br> And then food in the community, which is the space that I lead. So we've leveraged relationships that we have with food vendors, those that we do business with at the bedside and on campus to see how can we partner together. The whole thing, the whole approach that we use is how do we leave the hospital? We want to go where people are so that we have the greater opportunity to have an impact on the health outcomes. </p> <p> 00:05:22:15 - 00:05:46:00<br> Vickie Johnson<br> So how do we leverage partnerships? So we have great partnerships with Morrison Health, for example. The relationship started inside the hospital, but we both care for the same community. So how do we go together to provide education. So how do we leverage the chef that is preparing great meals for our patients in the community as well? And how do we bring that to communities where people are? </p> <p> 00:05:46:00 - 00:06:21:18<br> Vickie Johnson<br> So how do we use cooking demonstrations and education and recipes in libraries and community centers, combined with other partners like the American Heart Association. So we leverage those relationships we have. Also, we've been so fortunate on our main campus area, which is in the city of Cleveland in the Fairfax neighborhood where we've been over 100 years, and we've been in a community where the people who are our neighbors had not had a quality grocery store for over 30 years. </p> <p> 00:06:21:20 - 00:06:52:13<br> Vickie Johnson<br> And in 2018, they told us the best thing that we could do for them as a partner, as an anchor institution, is to leverage our employee base and the amount of dollars that we spend to attract a retailer to a community, quite frankly, that they could not do this on their own. So the population was declining, the number of households, the educational attainment, all the things that retailers look for to make a good business decision. </p> <p> 00:06:52:15 - 00:07:18:12<br> Vickie Johnson<br> This community did not have it. But what they did have is a committed partner in Cleveland Clinic. So we leverage the number of caregivers on main campus, the number of patients that visit every day, the number of construction workers that parked cars. We use all of this data to have conversations, and were successful in attracting a high quality retailer. </p> <p> 00:07:18:15 - 00:07:45:08<br> Vickie Johnson<br> And now we're working together. It's Meyer, and they're using the urban format to work with us in the community. So 40,000ft² of fresh groceries that did not exist before for our community. And so we're really pleased and so happy about that because when we went back to the community in 2023 to have the same kind of conversation, to ask on a regular basis, how do you define health? </p> <p> 00:07:45:10 - 00:08:12:13<br> Vickie Johnson<br> How can we be a good partner? And we collect data. And once that was looked at, we found no one described a food desert anymore. No one said, can you help us with access to food anymore? And we also had an economic impact with the 50 jobs that were created as well as a result of that. So that's what we've been doing, is talking with the community on a regular basis. </p> <p> 00:08:12:13 - 00:08:39:17<br> Vickie Johnson<br> How can we be helpful and really be really transparent about what we can and what we cannot do, and then work together to make that happen? So in other communities, we do not have 20,000 caregivers. You know, we do not have that type of impact. But how can we leverage, again, our vendors to make those opportunities and to increase the healthiness of every community that we serve? </p> <p> 00:08:39:19 - 00:09:03:25<br> Nancy Myers<br> And I love how you talked about bringing your workforce in, your caregivers, because they are one of our first communities, right? And so being able to put in this market, as you have in Cleveland, serves the people who live in the neighborhood. And it also is a nice benefit and service to your team members, who I assume use it every day or on a regular basis as well. </p> <p> 00:09:03:27 - 00:09:24:25<br> Vickie Johnson<br> That is so true, and I would be remiss if I didn't say where we do not have those same opportunities because we don't have the same level of economic impact, we're working with local communities around food pantries and nourish pantries, where it's not just food, it's also the education and talking with a health care provider  - and almost issuing </p> <p> 00:09:24:25 - 00:09:49:28<br> Vickie Johnson<br> and we have - food prescriptions to make sure that we're making the connection. And again, food is health. And we have wonderful initiatives where we focus primarily on populations that need us the most, It's a place-based strategies. We've decided to focus on pregnant women and children around food and nutrition, infant and maternal health. All women in the community. </p> <p> 00:09:49:28 - 00:10:02:04<br> Vickie Johnson<br> So we've been able to really connect everything together: food insecurity, access to care, exercise, all of that to get to the outcomes that we hope to see in years to come. </p> <p> 00:10:02:06 - 00:10:17:24<br> Nancy Myers<br> Let's talk about what the outcomes are that you're measuring now, as well as those that you're looking to measure over time to see how you're making an impact through these programs and other community programs that you have in place. </p> <p> 00:10:17:26 - 00:10:40:15<br> Vickie Johnson<br> Well, time is the first thing we want to focus on. It will take time. And I think in health care, we're sometimes, you know, looking for instant results because that's what you see with health care in terms of surgery or medicine. And so in this case, we all know this will take time. So we look for indicators that evidence has shown us will have a difference. </p> <p> 00:10:40:15 - 00:11:20:06<br> Vickie Johnson<br> So for example we are looking for pre-and-post test. And so at the end of a 12 week or 16 week or 90 day initiative, whatever the time frame is, have we been able to increase one's awareness and knowledge and a change in behavior? For example, we have an initiative called Healthy Moms and Healthy Babies where we've eliminated barriers like transportation. Where a pregnant mom, she's pregnant and she has children, and so she's able to shop with $200 a month and shop for healthy food using her cell phone, </p> <p> 00:11:20:09 - 00:11:49:29<br> Vickie Johnson<br> using the computer. And having food either picked up or delivered at the door side. So through that experience, we're able to stay with that mom throughout the first year of the baby's birth. And then we can measure. And it's self-reported. And because we have community health workers that are really closely building relationships with these mothers, we know the change in behavior. </p> <p> 00:11:49:29 - 00:12:21:15<br> Vickie Johnson<br> We can believe it because we see it. We're closely aligned with them. So when we change our behavior and when we recognize, okay, we know better. I accept that and I'm actually going to change how I eat and what I purchase, how I prepare it. Then we can expect, based on evidence, that we will see an increase for example, in the birth weight of the newborn, we can see a change in the need for certain medications because we're eating better. </p> <p> 00:12:21:16 - 00:12:41:23<br> Vickie Johnson<br> So we're hoping and we expect to see a healthier community at the end of this work. And when it's not perfect, we do it again. You know, we continually form and keep these relationships with folks. And when you don't exercise as much as you used to, we'll start all over again because we're going to be in the community </p> <p> 00:12:41:23 - 00:13:15:04<br> Vickie Johnson<br> forever and we're there as a partner to institute these behaviors that we know will produce the outcome that we're looking for. The access to food piece, again, when we've removed the necessity of a person to buy their dinner at the gas station because they now can purchase it at a market, we know people will become healthier and the outcome and their future is brighter, because we've been a part of bringing that to the community. </p> <p> 00:13:15:07 - 00:13:44:15<br> Nancy Myers<br> Thanks so much. And one last question, kind of as a wrap up. We'll play Monday Morning quarterback. You've had several years of experience in this world. And you've had some successes and likely you've had some things that didn't go as planned. What are key pieces of advice, maybe 1 or 2 things that you would give to another organization that was either just starting out addressing some of these same things, or was interested in expanding the work that maybe they've already started. </p> <p> 00:13:44:18 - 00:14:22:06<br> Vickie Johnson<br> I think we have to give ourselves grace at the very beginning and celebrate every success. Sometimes we get caught up in huge numbers, but every success is huge to that individual, is huge for every child that we are a partner with to really care for people for life. And if we start well, then we can end well. You know, celebrate ten people completing an initiative, celebrate 30 and then those ten or 20 or 30 are going to share that experience with their neighbors. </p> <p> 00:14:22:06 - 00:14:55:23<br> Vickie Johnson<br> And then you'll get to the place where you're seeing 3 or 4 or 500 as we are today. We have a fitness center also on main campus with world class equipment, and now we're up to thousands of people that come in every day. Unique individuals that are using our fitness facilities with physicians on staff. You know, present, with dieticians present in the same building where you can have yoga and you can soon teach each other, teach your neighbors how to eat better. </p> <p> 00:14:55:23 - 00:15:21:09<br> Vickie Johnson<br> So be in this for the long term is what I would say. And community is also hard to measure impact. Again health care is different. We have 400 surgeries, you know, scheduled for today and we know the outcome within minutes. This is very different, but it has a greater impact in one's sustaining their health in the community in which they're living. </p> <p> 00:15:21:09 - 00:15:34:17<br> Vickie Johnson<br> So partner with the physicians and know that we are just as important and in some cases more important in partnering with patients when they go home and community members to live a healthy life. </p> <p> 00:15:34:19 - 00:15:52:23<br> Nancy Myers<br> Well, on behalf of AHA, I'd like to say thank you, Vicki, to you and your team and the Cleveland Clinic for the work that you are doing to make a difference one person at a time, one community at a time. It sounds like you've had amazing success and have many more successes to come. </p> <p> 00:15:52:25 - 00:15:54:26<br> Vickie Johnson<br> Thank you. </p> <p> 00:15:54:28 - 00:16:03:08<br> Tom Haederle<br> Thanks for listening to Advancing Health. Please subscribe and rate us five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. </p> </details></div> Wed, 18 Jun 2025 09:08:00 -0500 Promoting Healthy Communities /role-hospitals-cary-medical-centers-stroke-prevention-program-promotes-healthy-lifestyle-habit <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-5"><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-06/ths-cary-healthy-lifestyles-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="Cary Medical Center. An older man stands in a kitchen preparing a healthy meal of salad" width="700" height="532"></div><p>Cary Medical Center, a 63-bed hospital in rural Caribou, Maine, created the Siruno Stroke Prevention Program to help community members develop and maintain healthy lifestyle habits. This program offers free blood pressure screenings and education on nutrition, diabetes prevention and smoking cessation; encourages regular physical activity; and leads other wellness programs aimed to reduce the risk of stroke.</p><p>As part of the Siruno Stroke Prevention Program, a team member leads a series of virtual classes called <a href="https://www.carymedicalcenter.org/eat-mediterranean/" target="_blank">Eat Mediterranean — A Healthy Choice</a>. These classes provide cooking demonstrations and share information and recipes about the Mediterranean diet, a healthy eating plan that research studies have linked to lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions.</p><p>The stroke prevention program also encourages community members to engage in physical activity for 150 minutes each week, as recommended by the American Heart Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health organizations. Each year, Cary Medical Center leads a variety of physical activities, one of which is the <a href="https://www.carymedicalcenter.org/100-miles-in-100-days-challenge/" target="_blank">100 Miles in 100 Days Fitness Challenge</a> that encourages people to incorporate a daily walk into their lifestyle. The hospital sends health tips and motivating messages to participants, who are entered into a drawing for gift cards if they report their miles and meet the challenge.</p><p>In addition, the program offers free blood pressure screenings to businesses and the general public and distributes blood pressure education packets.</p><p>The Siruno Stroke Prevention Program was established by the family of the late Cesar Siruno, M.D., a beloved general surgeon at Cary Medical Center who championed health prevention and promotion.</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.carymedicalcenter.org/siruno-stroke-prevention/programs/" target="_blank">LEARN MORE</a></p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/topics/promoting-healthy-communities">Building Healthy Communities</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Tue, 17 Jun 2025 11:23:15 -0500 Promoting Healthy Communities /advancing-health-podcast/2025-06-11-ecosystem-approach-health-across-michigan-communities <p>To celebrate Community Health Improvement (CHI) Week, June 9 – June 13, two experts from Corewell Health share how an impactful health care ecosystem model is supporting local Michigan communities, and why creating region-specific programs, from school-based clinics to school nursing initiatives, has been effective for improving community health.</p><p>Visit <a href="/center/community-health-improvement-week">/center/community-health-improvement-week</a> to learn more about the work hospitals and health systems are doing for their communities.</p><hr><div></div><div class="raw-html-embed"><details class="transcript"> <summary> <h2 title="Click here to open/close the transcript."> <span>View Transcript</span><br> </h2> </summary> <p> 00:00:01:04 - 00:00:31:25<br> Tom Haederle<br> Welcome to Advancing Health. An increasing number of hospitals today are part of a larger health system. How can the big systems support the mission of their local member hospitals, while avoiding a one size fits all approach that may not work for everyone? As we recognize Community Health Improvement Week, we learn more about Michigan-based Corewell Health's approach, from tactical support to collaborative community partnerships that helps each hospital or health system be the best it can be. </p> <p> 00:00:31:27 - 00:00:54:23<br> Andrew Jager<br> My name is Andrew Jager at the AHA. Today, it's my pleasure to be joined by two colleagues from Corewell Health in Michigan. With me we have Dr. Corey Smith and Vanessa Briggs. Today, as part of Community Health Improvement Week, we're going to talk a little bit about the role of a health system in supporting hospitals to maintain a really robust process in identifying and understanding the health needs of the local communities that they serve. </p> <p> 00:00:54:26 - 00:01:09:14<br> Andrew Jager<br> Now, I'd like to turn to our guest to hear a little bit about how you see the role of health systems like Corewell Health in supporting local hospital offers to identify, understand and to address community health needs. Starting with Vanessa, how do you see the role of Corewell in this? </p> <p> 00:01:09:17 - 00:01:45:24<br> Vanessa Briggs<br> That's a really great question. And some of the lessons I think, that we've learned here at Corewell Health. It really does take a collaborative process. And that really requires diverse voices and perspectives and lived experiences, because that engagement process is really critical, because we think about -when we do CHNA - as an ecosystem. And an ecosystem model that can be replicated across all three regions, given the spanned and reach that Corewell Health has within Michigan. </p> <p> 00:01:45:27 - 00:02:29:05<br> Vanessa Briggs<br> And so our CHNA ecosystem is made up of public health partners, health and human service organizations, community based organizations, as well as community advocates. And we also include our Corewell Health local community board representatives and health professionals that have local but yet regional specific insight into the needs that are happening and needed within community. And so when we work alongside all of those individuals, when we call our ecosystem, it really allows us to deliver programs and work alongside our community to engage throughout the entire process for the CHNA. </p> <p> 00:02:29:07 - 00:02:40:04<br> Andrew Jager<br> I love that, Vanessa, really taking that ecosystem approach and then intentionally bringing in those local community voices to create that strong effort. Corey, what would you add to Vanessa's response? </p> <p> 00:02:40:06 - 00:03:03:02<br> Corey Smith, Ph.D.<br> Well, the one thing I would add is, for a health system like Corewell Health, it can be sometimes easy to think, given our size, that we are kind of the main actor in a space. Right? And I think it's important, especially at the regional level, at the local level, to remember the kind of the legacy and positionality that some of these local hospitals have in their communities and that they are a part of the fabric. </p> <p> 00:03:03:02 - 00:03:30:00<br> Corey Smith, Ph.D.<br> Right. And so I think in some of our regions, and one of the things that we're trying to lift up as best practice is to be conduct doing the needs assessment process as part of a collective, right, a collective group in collaboration with public health departments, with local organizations, with school districts and other stakeholders that have some interest and where it's relevant for them to be aware of and participating in the process of defining community health needs, </p> <p> 00:03:30:00 - 00:03:30:18<br> Corey Smith, Ph.D.<br> right? </p> <p> 00:03:30:20 - 00:03:55:13<br> Andrew Jager<br> Yeah, I love that sort of intentionality of recognizing the true complexity across the communities, the legacy, different perspectives, and the intentionality of bringing all those together in a process is great. So moving on to that process, I guess I'd ask Vanessa, you know, from the system level, what would you say are some of the most important resources or tools that that you can use to support that local priority identification? </p> <p> 00:03:55:15 - 00:04:22:08<br> Vanessa Briggs<br> Yeah. At Corewell we firmly believe that technical support to help prioritize and help our local hospitals and stakeholders. It really has to align all focus areas effectively. And so having that technical support that Corey's team actually provides for my team in healthier communities is critical to the success. And that's a huge resource that's beneficial to us. </p> <p> 00:04:22:10 - 00:04:28:18<br> Vanessa Briggs<br> And I'm sure Corey has some other examples that that he would like to share in terms of some resources as well. </p> <p> 00:04:28:21 - 00:04:44:24<br> Andrew Jager<br> Yeah, I'd love to hear Corey's thoughts, especially around, you know, what do you think about when you try to balance standardization across the hospitals in your health system and data collection, reporting, etc., with the flexibility that local teams really need to to get at those needs and address them in a local way? </p> <p> 00:04:44:26 - 00:05:16:09<br> Corey Smith, Ph.D.<br> Yeah, it's one of the main tensions that we wrestle with, right? And it can be enticing to want to go with standardizing across systems. Right. It's simpler. You know you can feel like you're focusing, but when you bring it to local stakeholders, it can feel misaligned with what they actually need and what they experience. So, you know, I think stepping back from the actual process of identifying the needs rather than bringing forth a standard set of here are the needs that we're going to identify at each hospital across our system. </p> <p> 00:05:16:11 - 00:05:52:24<br> Corey Smith, Ph.D.<br> We try to frame it as here is our broad theory of change for how we think we can address health needs across the Corewell Health service area, right? We think we need to have a balanced approach to investing in, initiatives that are going to create change at lots of different levels. And so rather than saying this is exactly, you know, the condition or the need that you need to work towards trying to offer a way to work rather than a how to work, I think is a critical part of what we try to bring into both the CHNA, the community health assessment needs process, but also the development of the strategies and response to that </p> <p> 00:05:52:24 - 00:06:17:18<br> Corey Smith, Ph.D.<br> process. So I think that's part of the way we balance that tension. And then we've thought a lot about, you know, what is a system's sort of backbone look like for local teams doing this work. And what kind of technical support can we bring to the table, whether it's, you know, in the in the form of how to create better surveys, whether it's in the form of bringing forth access to publicly available data sets that look more at community need. </p> <p> 00:06:17:21 - 00:06:41:15<br> Corey Smith, Ph.D.<br> Mining census data. Mining other forms of information that, you know, the communities themselves, they may have the capacity, but not the time necessarily to do that work. And even more recently, what tools are available from a technology standpoint site now that even boost the efficiency of accessing that kind of information even more, right? There are tools now that, you know, make that an even simpler process. </p> <p> 00:06:41:15 - 00:06:49:23<br> Corey Smith, Ph.D.<br> And then how do we make that data more publicly available to people to use as part of the CHNA process or in their own work? Right? </p> <p> 00:06:49:25 - 00:07:09:10<br> Andrew Jager<br> Those are such good examples of kind of how you think about balancing that tension, as you mentioned, between kind of having a standard set of measures and having things resonate with the local communities that you serve. You talked about, I think, Vanessa, there are three regions across Michigan that you serve. So I wonder, you know, from a practical level, what does this work look like? </p> <p> 00:07:09:10 - 00:07:14:24<br> Andrew Jager<br> Could you share how it plays out, maybe, in one of the initiatives from 1 or 2 of those regions? </p> <p> 00:07:14:27 - 00:07:47:06<br> Vanessa Briggs<br> So the way that we like to approach our work is we sort of like to say we use a system wide approach and we're developing what we're calling program portfolios that allows us to encapsulate programs that healthier communities can deliver at a regional level. This approach gives us a system wide strategy, but it gives us local context within the regions across east, west and south by addressing the needs that we have identified within our 21 hospitals. </p> <p> 00:07:47:08 - 00:08:28:13<br> Vanessa Briggs<br> And so examples of those programs, it ranges from doing school based clinics on the east side of the state, where we're actually providing primary care in the school for our students, as well as for residents in community. And the west side of the state, we have a school nursing program that allows us to have a different model, but yet still in the schools, providing training for the school administrative staff, providing basic care for our students in the schools, and helping them manage their chronic diseases whether it's asthma or diabetes. </p> <p> 00:08:28:15 - 00:08:54:09<br> Vanessa Briggs<br> So that's why we're able to sort of customize our approaches, but yet still have, if you will, a collection of programs in a portfolio that addresses the needs of children, adolescents in a school environment. And so that's a good way and a good example to show how you can have a system wide strategy, but yet still keep it very, very local based off of the needs that are in community, </p> <p> 00:08:54:17 - 00:09:33:28<br> Vanessa Briggs<br> the partnerships that we have in community. Because we know, as I mentioned, it takes an ecosystem to do this work. And so Corewell has deep relationships with other nonprofits within organizations to help us execute programs, whether it's prevention programs, chronic disease management programs, and even coalition building and doing what we like to call collective impact work. And so it's a variety of programs and interventions that are derived from our implementation plans and, as you know, come from the priorities that are identified in our community health needs assessments. </p> <p> 00:09:34:00 - 00:10:00:26<br> Andrew Jager<br> Such a powerful example, I think, of the ways that you're thinking about understanding what are the local assets of your communities and then partnering to address those needs in a way that that is really having an impact across the state. So thank you for that work. Corey, one of the questions I frequently get, and I imagine maybe you hear something like this too, is, you know, how do we show the impact of the work that we're having, you know, both through metrics as well as through sharing the stories of the work across our community. </p> <p> 00:10:00:26 - 00:10:13:00<br> Andrew Jager<br> So how do you share your work in a way that that gets people excited about the work you're doing, brings in partners, and also that can help to develop a system wide culture of learning, adaptation and continuous improvement? </p> <p> 00:10:13:02 - 00:10:36:26<br> Corey Smith, Ph.D.<br> Definitely a question that I get. You know, my background is in evaluation. And so this is something I've been thinking a lot about. Corewell Health for the time I've been here - and, and I think the question that's been sitting in my head for five years has fundamentally been, how do we evaluate at scale, you know, have three regions, with, you know, over 100 individual initiatives. </p> <p> 00:10:36:28 - 00:11:02:08<br> Corey Smith, Ph.D.<br> How do you think about evaluating at scale? Right. You want to have evaluation where it makes sense, but you also have limited resources. And so what we've been doing is working to establish a systematic way of making choices with our regional leadership about where to invest, evaluation resources based on local priorities. Right. So really trying to define first where do we need to do this evaluative work. </p> <p> 00:11:02:08 - 00:11:24:21<br> Corey Smith, Ph.D.<br> Where do we feel it's most important for us to either generate learning or evidence of impact. And then through that designing, evaluation and monitoring processes that are really going to help us hone in on the indicators that are going to be useful for tracking our progress over time, but also the critical outcomes that our stakeholders have helped us develop, </p> <p> 00:11:24:23 - 00:12:03:13<br> Corey Smith, Ph.D.<br> that our regional leadership has decided are most important. And then it's just a technical task, right? Then it's designing methodologies, whether they're quantitative and qualitative, whether they're optimally mixed. You know, the application of both is most often the best way to answer the evaluative questions that you may be trying to answer. The last thing I'll say about that is, you know, we really have been working to try and establish a set of regional sort of priority indicators that can serve as a guidepost where they're not going to be right the first time, and they're going to have to get better over time in terms of their relevance to local needs, but really trying to </p> <p> 00:12:03:13 - 00:12:15:21<br> Corey Smith, Ph.D.<br> establish what are some of our, you know, our north stars, our guideposts that we can organize around as we try to make decisions about what to do, and where to invest some of our resources. </p> <p> 00:12:15:23 - 00:12:29:22<br> Andrew Jager<br> Really well said. Any last words? I mean, a lot of the listeners are health system leaders. So what do you think they need to know about supporting a process that's locally led and owned with the system level resources? </p> <p> 00:12:29:24 - 00:12:58:04<br> Vanessa Briggs<br> The way that I sort of think about it is it really is important to have a system wide strategy, as I mentioned, whether or not it's in the interventions and creating portfolios to allow you to house like programs, or whether it's having Corey's team do evaluation, provide technical assistance across the entire system in doing our community health needs assessment. </p> <p> 00:12:58:06 - 00:13:39:14<br> Vanessa Briggs<br> But what's most important and critical is that that system wide strategy still needs to have and allow for adaptability and customization based off of local context. While we can move to centralize and provide benefits from economies of scale within a system wide approach, we can't lose sight that the relevance and the effectiveness of addressing unique needs at a local level or regional level is still critically important, because that's when you're able to address the needs that have been identified within community. </p> <p> 00:13:39:17 - 00:14:01:26<br> Vanessa Briggs<br> And I think that that's what's most important. We can have system wide strategies but that local context is what really matters, because then we know we're moving the needle to address health disparities, access to care, partnering with organizations, addressing transportation, food access. </p> <p> 00:14:01:28 - 00:14:24:17<br> Andrew Jager<br> Thank you so much for encapsulating the important work that hospitals do across the country every day to support the communities and to help people be as healthy as they can be. Well, thank you to each person listening for the work that you do to support health and resilience in your communities. Community Health Improvement Week is really about recognizing the important work that you do every day on behalf of America's hospitals and health systems, and more importantly, the communities that we all serve. </p> <p> 00:14:24:19 - 00:14:38:06<br> Andrew Jager<br> Special thanks to Vanessa and Corey for sharing your thoughts and expertise, for the great work that you're doing at Corewell for Michigan communities. Be well. And until next time, this is Andrew Jager from the wishing you all a very happy Community Health Improvement Week. </p> <p> 00:14:38:09 - 00:14:46:20<br> Tom Haederle<br> Thanks for listening to Advancing Health. Please subscribe and rate us five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. </p> </details></div> Wed, 11 Jun 2025 07:42:18 -0500 Promoting Healthy Communities /role-hospitals-keck-school-medicine-usc-makes-hearing-breakthrough-studying-mouse-inner-ear <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-5"><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-06/ths-usc-keck-hearing-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="USC Keck School of Medicine. Illustration of soundwaves entering an ear canal" width="700" height="532"></div><p>Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine, made a major discovery in understanding how the brain may help regulate hearing. And they did it by adapting an imaging technique currently used in ophthalmology offices, called optical coherence tomography.</p><p>The team used OCT to capture real-time images of the cochlea — a part of the inner ear involved in hearing — in mice, revealing that the brain can send signals to the inner ear to enhance sound sensitivity. The study found that while the cochlea doesn’t respond to short-term brain state changes, it does increase activity in response to long-term hearing damage in mice with genetic hearing loss. The study suggests the brain compensates for hearing loss by boosting the function of remaining sensory cells.</p><p>The team is now preparing clinical trials to test whether blocking certain brain-to-ear signals could help reduce symptoms in patients with sound sensitivity disorders. Findings could lead to new treatments for conditions like tinnitus (ringing, buzzing or other phantom sounds) and hyperacusis (where everyday sounds become uncomfortably loud).</p><p><a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://scitechdaily.com/new-brain-discovery-could-revolutionize-hearing-loss-treatment/" target="_blank">LEARN MORE</a></p></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/topics/promoting-healthy-communities">Building Healthy Communities</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Thu, 05 Jun 2025 12:08:29 -0500 Promoting Healthy Communities