KentuckyOne Health Awarded $1.5 Million Grant For Model of Care to Support Lower Income Communities - Archived
KentuckyOne Health Awarded $1.5 Million Grant for Model of Care to Support Lower Income Communities
Louisville, Ky. (August 12, 2014)—KentuckyOne Health received a $1.5 million, three-year grant to support a new model of care to assist patients who live in low-income neighborhoods in south and west Louisville. The
program, called Health Connections Initiative, employs a multidisciplinary team working in the homes of recently hospitalized patients from low-income neighborhoods to help them better manage their medical conditions while addressing barriers to good health. These include problems with transportation, lack of access to healthy food and connection with a trusted primary care doctor.
The grant, from Catholic Health Initiative’s (CHI) Mission and Ministry Fund, is designed to support the most complex patients whose poor health and
complicated social situations directly impact their ability to get and stay well. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the sickest 5% of patients account for more than half of health care costs in the U.S. Yet studies have shown that health outcomes can improve dramatically for this group when care is comprehensive and coordinated—addressing patients’ social needs as well as their medical needs.
That has been the case for 73 patients served by KentuckyOne over the past eight months through a pilot,
also funded by a CHI grant. Participants saw dramatic improvements in rates of depression, confidence in their ability to manage their health, and connection to a medical home. Only six patients were readmitted to the hospital compared to 26 the year before.
The grant supports two care teams consisting of a registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, social worker, and community health worker—a lay person from the community who acts as a trusted peer and connector between patients and providers to promote health among people who
have traditionally lacked access to adequate care. The program is free to patients and includes up to 90 days of in-home coaching and support.
CHI also granted $1.5 million to St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock, Arkansas so that the model can be evaluated in two distinct communities. The goal is to create a program that can be replicated in other communities served by CHI hospitals around the country.
“This initiative compassionately addresses the complex health needs of some of our most vulnerable citizens, getting to the root cause of why so many cycle in and out of the hospital,” said Alice Bridges, vice president, healthy communities, KentuckyOne Health. “Our goal is to help each patient achieve better health outcomes and quality of life while reducing health care costs. This grant will allow us to do just that.”
Since it was established in 1996 with guidance from CHI’s founding congregations, the Mission and Ministry Fund has awarded 409 grants totaling more than $50 million to programs across the globe. The fund was established through contributions from CHI facilities across the nation.
“Finding new and innovative ways to improve the health of communities has always been the mission that guides CHI,” said Kevin Lofton, chief executive officer of Catholic Health Initiatives. “We’re very proud of the collaborative work that KentuckyOne Health is doing in the Louisville community.”
Editor Note: video of an actual participate can be found at the http://youtu.be/N9zrtnAhJiA
Photo Cutline: Patient Carrie Brown is visited in her home by KentuckyOne Health team members Ashley Dawson, MSW, (black shirt) and Bethany May, CHW, (pink shirt).
About KentuckyOne Health
KentuckyOne Health was formed when two major Kentucky health care organizations came together in early 2012. KentuckyOne Health combines the Jewish and Catholic heritages of the two former systems – Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System. In late 2012, the organization formed a partnership with the University of Louisville Hospital | James Graham Brown Cancer Center. The nonprofit system is committed to improving the health of Kentuckians by integrating medical research, education, technology and health care services wherever patients receive care. KentuckyOne Health has more than 200 locations including hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies across the state of Kentucky and southern Indiana.
About Catholic Health Initiatives
Catholic Health Initiatives, a nonprofit, faith-based health system formed in 1996 through the consolidation of four Catholic health systems, expresses its mission each day by creating and nurturing healthy communities in the hundreds of sites across the nation where it provides care. One of the nation’s largest health systems, Englewood, Colo.-based CHI operates in 18 states and comprises 93 hospitals, including four academic medical centers and teaching hospitals: 24 critical access facilities; community health services organizations; accredited nursing colleges; home-health agencies; and other facilities that span the inpatient and outpatient continuum of care. In fiscal year 2013, CHI provided $762 million in charity care and community benefit, including services for the poor, free clinics, education and research.
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Publish date:
Tuesday, August 12, 2014