Tanner Health System is among 39 government organizations, public health offices, housing authorities and other nonprofit healthcare organizations throughout the nation to receive a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Partnerships to Improve Community Health program aimed at supporting public health efforts to reduce chronic disease, promote healthier lifestyles, reduce health disparities and control healthcare spending.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will administer the grants, which will run for three years. Tanner was awarded $859,412 in federal money, representing first-year funding of the three-year Partnerships to Improve Community Health project period. The CDC will continue the award on an annual basis — at $859,412 per year — based on the availability of funds and satisfactory progress of the project, making it a potential total award amount of $2.6 million over three years.
“As a health system, Tanner has become very good at treating disease,” said Loy Howard, president and CEO of Tanner Health System. “But to create a sustainable healthcare organization, we must also be very good at preventing disease. By changing behaviors that put our health at risk — for example, tobacco use, lack of exercise, unhealthy diets — we can reduce the number of people in our region who suffer from diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancer and other diseases.”
Overall, HHS awarded $49.3 million in first-year Partnerships to Improve Community Health funding to a variety of governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations that serve three types of geographic areas: large cities and urban counties, small cities and counties, and American Indian tribes. Tanner was one of only 20 organizations under the small cities and counties category to receive the award, and was one of only six hospitals in the nation — and the only hospital in the Southeast — to receive the award.
Tanner previously received a two-year, $1.2 million Community Transformation Grant from the CDC in September 2012, which led to the establishment of the Get Healthy, Live Well multi-sector community coalition and a major regional campaign to expand access to healthy food, increase physical activity, eliminate tobacco use and reduce chronic disease risks in Carroll, Haralson and Heard counties.
“With the Community Transformation Grant, we sought to establish programs that would make a lasting impact in communities throughout west Georgia,” said Denise Taylor, senior vice president and chief community health and brand officer for Tanner Health System. “The important work that was begun with that grant can be continued with the support of our community partners. Now, we can continue those partnerships in new ways to reinforce healthy behaviors and reach even more area residents.”
Over the three-year Partnerships to Improve Community Health project period, the Tanner-led Get Healthy, Live Well coalition will implement a variety of evidence-based policies and systems to reduce the prevalence of chronic disease and related risk factors, with focused strategies that address tobacco use and exposure, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and lack of access to chronic disease prevention, risk reduction and management opportunities.
The new grant will be used to continue many of Get Healthy, Live Well’s current evidence-based programs and strategies, while also implementing new ones. A key strategy of the new grant includes a strong focus on ensuring that prevention-focused healthcare and community prevention efforts are available, integrated and mutually reinforcing. This includes new programs that utilize peer and group support to promote chronic disease prevention and self-management skills, along with efforts to engage area clinicians to integrate Get Healthy, Live Well’s community-based prevention programs and resources into patient care plans. To more effectively reach residents at disproportionate risk for chronic disease, Get Healthy, Live Well will implement a variety of targeted, evidence-based interventions focused on priority populations, working with churches and other institutions to initiate impactful, sustainable health improvements for the population.
Through Get Healthy, Live Well, Tanner is prepared to start implementing new health programs relatively quickly, with support from its 24 task forces and more than 550 volunteers in Carroll, Haralson and Heard counties.
“We’ve learned a lot from the Community Transformation Grant, and as we evaluate the data from that grant, we’re gaining a better understanding of what programs work best,” said Taylor. “We’re going to use that understanding as we move forward to make sure that we’re able to make the biggest difference in the lives of people in our region.”
In west Georgia, the grant will supplement Tanner’s robust, mission-driven community health strategy, allowing the health system to optimize the prevention efforts and expand the health impact of Get Healthy, Live Well.
“The cost of managing chronic diseases in west Georgia is growing,” said Daniel Jackson, chairman of the Tanner Medical Center Inc. Board of Directors. “Nationally, chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes are leading causes of death and disability. They account for seven of every 10 deaths among Americans each year, and more than 80 percent of the $2.7 trillion our nation spends annually on medical care. To bring those costs under control and move forward with a sustainable model of health care, we have to make an impact on the behaviors that lead to these chronic diseases.”
More information on Get Healthy, Live Well — including upcoming health opportunities and ongoing programs — is available at www.GetHealthyLiveWell.org.