Lancaster General Health Awarded Foster G. McGaw Prize for Community Service

 

Pictured: Robert O. Valdez, Ph.D., Foster G. McGaw Price Committee Chairman, Jan Bergen, LG Health President & CEO, Alice Yoder, MSN, Executive Director, Community Health, John G. O’Brien, Foster G. McGaw Prize Committee Member

 

Below: A sampling of how LG Health is improving the health and well-being of the community.

 

 

 

 

Don't Miss the Foster G. McGaw Prize Ceremony Video Found Immediately Below this Story

Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health is honored to receive the 2018 Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service for its leadership role in improving care for the individuals and families in its community. The health system will receive $100,000 toward programs that further these goals.

The Foster G. McGaw Prize is sponsored by the Baxter International Foundation, the American Hospital Association and its non-profit affiliate Health Research & Educational Trust. Every year, the prize is given to a health care organization that has shown exemplary commitment to establishing and facilitating programs that improve the overall health and well-being of its community.

LG Health is a not-for-profit health care system governed by a community-based Board of Trustees, serving as the largest health system and safety net in Lancaster County, PA. The county is home to urban, suburban and rural areas, representing a unique set of health care expectations, needs and challenges that the health system addresses by collaborating with a broad network of community organizations. LG Health coordinates all community health improvement work with the end goal in mind, helping it develop a collection of strong programs and initiatives that successfully impact the overall well-being of its community.

"LG Health illustrates how moving from understanding that the social determinants of health - sociocultural, built, and economic environments - have a significant impact on communities to action with community partners beyond the walls of the hospital improve the health and well-being," said Robert O. Valdez, Ph.D., Chairman of the Foster G. McGaw Prize Committee. “The impact and effects of its initiatives is a model for all hospitals and local organizations when going above and beyond to respond to its community’s identified health priorities and address access to care.”

“We are honored that the American Hospital Association has recognized our community health improvement model as a way to improve health and well-being of a community like ours,” said Jan Bergen, LG Health’s President and CEO. “We are grateful for the partnerships we have with many local organizations that enable us to collectively pursue health initiatives that will improve the well-being of individuals and the community at large.”

LG Health utilizes a community health improvement model and strategic approach to identify and address health priorities and to focus not only on programs and services, but in policies, systems and government changes that impact health. These principles have guided the health system in addressing the unique needs of its diverse community.

By partnering with local organizations, LG Health was able to establish its programs with five dynamic goals:  

• Quality Health Care for All: LG Health helps individuals and families achieve an optimal level of health by ensuring they receive care at a location that is convenient and culturally competent. These programs assist with these special needs and gaps that are identified throughout the health system’s CHNA process.  Efforts include: ChildProtect, DALCO, Healthy Beginnings Plus/Nurse Family Partnership, Breast and Cervical Services, Child Advocacy Center and School-Based Health Centers.

• Serving as a Catalyst for Mental Well-Being: The Let’s Talk, Lancaster Coalition was implemented to evaluate strategies that improve the mental well-being of the Lancaster County community. The coalition’s purpose is to increase awareness of mental health and reduce stigma surrounding mental illness, helping shape the culture of mental health on both a local and societal level.

• Making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice: Lighten Up Lancaster County is a cross-sector coalition dedicated to combating obesity and promoting healthy lifestyles. It uses collective resources of schools, businesses, government, health care, faith-based groups and other organizations to improve access to healthy food and safe spaces for physical programs.

• Going Upstream: LG Health implemented programs like Care Connections to address the social determinants of health with some of the most vulnerable members of our community. Care Connections provides medical and behavioral health, along with additional services, to chronically ill and complex patients who consume disproportionate amounts of care. Since 2011, Care Connections has enrolled 475 patients.

• Responding to the Substance Use Crisis: The Tobacco Free Coalition of Lancaster, of which LG Health is a key driver, brings together multi-sector partnership that includes hospitals, schools, health and human services, municipalities and more. Using the same strategies to expand beyond tobacco to reduce opioid deaths LG Health partnered to create two new coalitions that combat the opioid epidemic, South Central PA Opioid Awareness Coalition and Lancaster Joining Forces.