May 28, 2009
ProHealth Care Honored For Serving Unmet Health Needs
ProHealth Care is one of only five health systems in the nation and the only one in Wisconsin to receive a 2009 VHA Leadership Award for Community Benefit Excellence in recognition of its efforts to serve community health needs.
"As a community-based, not-for-profit health system, our mission compels us to reach beyond the bedside and help build a healthier community," said Ford Titus, President and CEO of ProHealth Care. "Our Community Benefit Program provides a ‘safety net' of resources, such as parish nurses and the Hispanic Community Health Resource Center, that reach out to those in our community whose health needs would otherwise go unmet."
"Providing for the unique health needs of their communities is the hallmark of not-for-profit hospitals. The VHA Leadership Award for Community Benefit recognizes organizations for their focus and commitment to community benefit and the effective strategies they use to tell their community benefit story," said Michael Regier, senior vice president of VHA.
A national health care alliance, VHA Inc. serves more than 1,400 not-for-profit hospitals nationwide.
VHA hopes that recognizing these award-winning institutions will encourage other not-for-profit hospitals and health systems to increase their community impact by improving and expanding upon their existing community benefit programs.
ProHealth Care has a strong legacy of helping meet community health needs by proactively partnering with the community and investing resources in the form of financial support, expertise, and volunteer time. ProHealth Care's community support continues to grow and totaled more than $32 million in 2008.
In addition to the multitude of community education, professional education, charity care and other means of providing community benefit services commonly provided by hospitals, ProHealth Care provides an extensive array of totally discretionary community benefit services. Among the more visible are the Parish and Community Outreach Nurse program and the Hispanic Community Health Resource Center (HCHRC). ProHealth Care employs 28 dedicated staff for these services in 54 sites. The HCHRC provides service to approximately 7,000 clients per year.
"What distinguishes our health system is the extraordinary amount of discretionary resources that are devoted to community benefit," explained Bob Speer, ProHealth Care community benefit director. "Whether it is the creation of a new dental clinic or leading a community-wide coalition to address Hispanic health needs, the driving forces are the particular needs of the vulnerable populations of our community."
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