Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton has been honored as the 2014 Large Hospital of the Year by the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals (GACH).
The hospital was recognized for its continued commitment to reduce the risk and prevalence of chronic disease in west Georgia’s predominately rural population through the Get Healthy, Live Well coalition.
Tanner established Get Healthy, Live Well in 2012 to serve as a multi-sector coalition to develop and implement a variety of evidence-based interventions to reduce chronic disease risks among residents in Carroll, Haralson and Heard counties.
“This isn’t just an honor for Tanner — it’s an honor for the hundreds of people who are working to make our community healthier,” said Loy Howard, president and CEO of Tanner Health System. “Our mission at Tanner is to improve the health of the community. That was our inspiration to start Get Healthy, Live Well. It’s a one-of-a-kind partnership between a healthcare organization and the people it serves. That’s what makes this program — and this award — so special.”
The coalition consists of 24 tasks forces comprised of more than 550 community volunteers and more than 160 local, state and national partners. In order to gain comprehensive understanding and effectively address the community’s barriers, the coalition engages people, ideas and resources from diverse settings, including the community, early childcare, faith-based, healthcare, school and worksite.
In just two years, Get Healthy, Live Well has made significant gains in improving its community’s health. The coalition has trained almost 30 lifestyle coaches to implement the National Diabetes Prevention Program throughout west Georgia, a program that has proven to cut the risk of developing diabetes in half. Thus far, the 50 participants have lost a total of about 550 pounds in the first four months of the year-long program.
Get Healthy, Live Well is also focused on childhood obesity, training 24 healthcare professionals with key intervention skills to assess, prevent and treat childhood obesity in the evidence-based Educating Physicians in their Communities (EPIC) childhood obesity program. Additional initiatives include efforts to improve healthy food access with the West Georgia Regional Food System Collaborative and anti-tobacco initiatives.
The coalition has received multiple accolades for effectively addressing public health challenges, including being named a “Partner Up! For Public Hero” by the Georgia Department of Public Health in 2013. Tanner also recently received the Georgia Hospital Association’s Community Leadership Award for its work through the program.
“The Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals is proud to recognize Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton for its contributions to the Carrollton community,” said alliance President Monty Veazey. “Our state’s not-for-profit hospitals are committed to improving the health of their communities, and being able to draw special attention to the commitment, innovation and dedication of our hospitals is a tremendous honor for me.”
The Georgia Alliance of Community Hospital’s “Hospital of the Year” is an annual competition that spotlights the important value of Georgia’s community hospitals. Hospital submissions were evaluated by a panel of judges from public relations agency Porter Novelli, focusing on initiatives that support direct patient access, improved access to underserved populations, major economic development initiatives, major quality-of-life initiatives and extraordinary community benefits.
The Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals has been working for the best interests of community not-for-profit hospitals and Georgia's healthcare consumers since its founding in 1983. The alliance works to foster goodwill among community healthcare professionals; to advocate the enactment of sound laws, rules and regulations affecting community hospitals; to conduct and disseminate research and to share ideas that improve the healthcare delivery system in Georgia.
Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton, established in 1949, is a 201-bed acute care hospital providing a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging and a new, 24-hour emergency department staffed by residency-trained and board-certified emergency medicine physicians.