Spectrum Health’s Core Health Program Honored With National Award From the American Hospital Association

Spectrum Health’s Core Health Program has been selected to receive the 2013 American Hospital Association (AHA) NOVA Award®. The award honors AHA member hospitals and health care systems for effective, collaborative programs focused on community health status.

Core Health, a part of Spectrum Health’s Healthier Communities, was one of five hospital-led programs selected nationally for its efforts in providing the education and resources necessary for the underserved community to live a healthy lifestyle. The award will be presented at a ceremony during the Health Forum/AHA Leadership Summit on July 27 in San Diego.

“We are honored to receive this award and be recognized by the American Hospital Association which represents our peers,” said Erin Inman, director, Spectrum Health Healthier Communities. “It is a reflection of the commitment of our community health workers and registered nurses, along with our partners, to remove culture and language barriers that may otherwise prevent our patients from receiving the care they need.”

The Core Health Program is a free, 12-month program that reaches underserved individuals with chronic disease, including diabetes and heart failure, through home visitations from a registered nurse and community health worker. It is sustained though collaborations with primary care providers, clinics, the Visiting Nurses Association, food pantries and community centers.

Since the program’s inception in 2009, 871 patients have participated in Core Health, averaging about 300 patients a year. As a result of better self-management of their disease, program participants lower their risk of adverse outcomes and reduce the total costs of hospital visits. Based on these reductions, Spectrum Health estimates that every dollar invested in Core Health over the past three years yielded a savings of $2.54 by preventing unnecessary emergency department use and re-hospitalization.

Founded in 1898, the American Hospital Association is a national organization that represents and serves nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members, as well as their patients and communities.

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system, based in West Michigan, offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which is comprised of nine hospitals including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital; 130 ambulatory and service sites; 975 advanced practice providers and employed physicians including members of the Spectrum Health Medical Group and West Michigan Heart physician groups; and Priority Health, a health plan. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer with 19,200 employees. The organization provided $204 million in community benefit during its 2012 fiscal year.