Saint Joseph Berea Foundation Announces $1.1 Million Initiative to Assist Patients in Accessing Health and Social Services. - Archived

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Saint Joseph Berea Foundation Announces $1.1 Million Initiative to
Assist Patients in Accessing Health and Social Services

Berea, Ky. (September 6, 2017) – The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Catholic Health Initiatives’ Mission & Ministry Fund have awarded $1,124,240 in grant funding to the Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation, in cooperation with the Saint Joseph Berea Foundation, both part of KentuckyOne Health. The grant will help develop an innovative model for addressing barriers created by social determinants of health, to build and sustain healthy communities. A check presentation was held today at Saint Joseph Berea to announce the grant, which will run through the end of December 2019.

Social determinants of health - the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live and age - contribute in a significant way to inequities in health status. Understanding and addressing the barriers is essential to providing equitable, effective and high-quality health care.

The grant is part of CHI’s “Total Health Roadmap” initiative. The funding will be used to identify and address the social and environmental issues that affect well-being and health equity by including screening for basic human needs in three primary care physician practices in Berea and London. In addition, three Community Health Workers will be hired, one for each practice, to assist patients identified as having unmet basic human needs. The Community Health Workers will connect patients with the proper community resources for assistance with housing, food security, childcare, behavioral health and transportation.

In addition, the grant will also help fund the development of new services to close gaps in resources that will be determined in collaboration with other community agencies. As an “anchor organization”, KentuckyOne Health will build broad-based community coalitions and establishing and reinforcing ties with existing community partner organizations.  This new care model is eventually expected to expand across Kentucky as well as in communities served by CHI across 17 states.

“The Community Health Workers will help bridge communication and cultural gaps between underserved patients and clinical staff, resulting in better health outcomes,” said Leslie Buddeke Smart, president, Saint Joseph Berea Foundation. “This will also result in an improvement in overall health for our communities receiving this grant.”

Practices selected to participate in this program include KentuckyOne Health Primary Care Associates in Berea, KentuckyOne Health Pediatric Associates in London, and KentuckyOne Health Primary Care Associates (5th Street location) in London.

“This new approach to care will ultimately eliminate barriers for patients,” said Eric Gilliam, president, Saint Joseph Berea. “This funding will give us the tools we need help improve patient health, also making our community stronger.”

This grant is part of a larger $5 million project, funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and CHI’s Mission and Ministry Fund. Similar programs are being implemented in Colorado and Iowa.

For more information, email [email protected].

About Saint Joseph Berea Foundation
Saint Joseph Berea Foundation supports KentuckyOne Health’s drive for excellence by inspiring donors to make a tangible difference through their philanthropic investment in outstanding patient care facilities and services, the education of caregivers, advanced clinical research and improved access to quality medical care.

About KentuckyOne Health
KentuckyOne Health, one of the largest and most comprehensive health systems in the Commonwealth, includes hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies in Kentucky and southern Indiana. KentuckyOne Health is dedicated to bringing wellness, healing and hope to all, including the underserved.

 
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