(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Hearst Health and the Jefferson College of Population Health today announced Nationwide Children’s Hospital as the winner of the 2020 Hearst Health Prize for Excellence in Population Health. Nationwide Children’s was awarded this prize for its Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families (HNHF) initiative and its mission to improve outcomes for children and families by creating healthy, opportunity-rich communities.
The national Hearst Health Prize for Excellence in Population Health is awarded to an institution that demonstrates population health impact by measurable improvement; use of evidence-based interventions and best practices; promotion of communication, collaboration and engagement; scalability and sustainability and innovation. The award comes with a $100,000 cash prize which will be used to further the HNHF mission.
In 2009, Nationwide Children’s joined with community partners to launch Healthy Neighborhoods Health Families. The initiative, composed of faith-based organizations, community development organizations, youth-serving nonprofits and local public schools, seeks to create positive health outcomes in the community. HNHF’s focus began on Columbus’s South Side, the area around the hospital, where it has improved community, family and individual well-being. The initiative has now expanded to the Linden area. The HNHF initiative targets five impact areas: affordable housing, education, health and wellness, community enrichment and economic development.
“This honor is validation of what can be accomplished when a community comes together,” said Tim Robinson, CEO of Nationwide Children’s. “It is a vitally important part of our mission to not only provide high quality care to our patients and families, within the hospital’s walls, but to also address the social determinants of health in the community, as well. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without strong partnerships with Community Development for All People, the United Way, Franklin County and its Commissioners, the City of Columbus and Mayor Andrew Ginther and others, and this prize is as much theirs. We’re grateful for their teamwork and collaboration.”
Since its creation in 2009, HNHF has seen the following major achievements:
- More than 370 homes were rehabbed, including full-gut renovations, new builds, and grants to current residents through the Home Repair Program.
- The Residences at Career Gateway provides 58 units of apartments and townhomes along with on-site career development training.
- Decreased neighborhood vacancy rates fell from 25% to 6%, and owner-occupied home sale volumes increased by 50% in the Southern Orchards neighborhood.
- Early childhood programs have driven kindergarten readiness scores from 32% to 96% for participants, and graduation rates increased from 64% in 2013 to 79% in 2017.
- Children who are Medicaid-eligible have experienced decreases in emergency department use and probability of inpatient admission.
- In surveys, residents report feeling safer and a stronger sense of community.
“We are proud to present the 2020 Hearst Health Prize to the Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families program from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in honor of its exemplary efforts to improve the health outcomes of children and families in its local community who have been economically marginalized,” Gregory Dorn, MD, MPH, president of Hearst Health said. “Nationwide Children’s Hospital has demonstrated that collaboration across community services and resources can make a profound impact on addressing health disparities in vulnerable populations of children.”
“We have demonstrated that equitable community development leads to positive outcomes for children and families,” said Kelly Kelleher, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice, who accepted the Hearst Health Prize today. “To be recognized for this important work is one step closer to addressing social determinants of health on a larger scale.”
About the Hearst Health Prize
The Hearst Health Prize is an annual $100,000 award honoring outstanding achievement in improving population health in the U.S., funded by Hearst Health and administered by the Jefferson College of Population Health. One winner is awarded $100,000 and up to two finalists each receive $25,000. The Hearst Health Prize provides a national platform to showcase successful programs and to proliferate best practices more rapidly. For additional information about the Hearst Health Prize, please visit www.jefferson.edu/HearstHealthPrize.
About Hearst Health
The mission of Hearst Health is to help guide the most important care moments by delivering vital information into the hands of everyone who touches a person’s health journey. Each year in the U.S., care guidance from Hearst Health reaches 85 percent of discharged patients, 205 million insured individuals, 77 million home health visits and 3.2 billion dispensed prescriptions. The Hearst Health network includes FDB (First Databank), Zynx Health, MCG, Homecare Homebase, MHK(formerly MedHOK—Medical House of Knowledge) and Hearst Health Ventures (www.hearsthealth.com). Hearst also holds a minority interest in the precision medicine and oncology analytics company M2Gen.
Follow Hearst Health on Twitter @HearstHealth or LinkedIn @Hearst-Health.
About the Jefferson College of Population Health
Established in 2008, JCPH is part of Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University), a leader in interdisciplinary, professional education, and home of the Sidney Kimmel Medical College and the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce. JCPH is dedicated to exploring the policies and forces that define the health and well-being of populations. Its mission is to prepare leaders with global vision to examine the social determinants of health and to evaluate, develop and implement health policies and systems that will improve the health of populations and thereby enhance the quality of life. JCPH provides exemplary graduate academic programming in population health, public health, health policy, healthcare quality and safety, and applied health economics and outcomes research. Its educational offerings are enhanced by research, publications and continuing education and professional development offerings in these areas.