Partnerships and Engagement Support a Healthy Thriving Community - Mark Faulkner and Joy Powell
7/28/2024
Good health is not just the absence of illness. It’s the combination of physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being. At Baptist Health Care, we continuously explore opportunities to move the needle to improve community health which ultimately benefits us all.
Barriers to wellness include social determinants such as poverty, food insecurity, inadequate housing and lack of education. At Baptist, we are addressing the holistic needs of individuals and families and helping to remove these obstacles. We support community health improvement through outreach, education and engagement by offering programs and connecting with local places of worship, community centers and individuals, reaching thousands to provide essential services, screenings and preventive care programs.
Baptist’s Faith Health Network (FHN) is our program that promotes wellness by combining the resources of the health care community with the strength of local congregations. We have partnered with over 100 congregations in our community to help participants enter the health care system at the right place, at the right time and for the right reason.
In the past year alone, the Faith Health Network’s Academy has served more than 1,000 individuals and families through wellness education classes, screenings, health coaching and community outreach events.
This outreach has yielded meaningful improvements in health outcomes at participating congregations, which include:
• 25% increase in health knowledge and awareness among participants
• 15% reduction in chronic disease rates among participants
• 10% increase in access to medical care among participants
Many other initiatives work together to improve community health. The Produce RX Initiative provides healthy food to seniors in need, ensuring they have good nutrition and food security.
For six years, the breast cancer screening initiative Sister4Sister, has partnered with local congregations, health care providers, community centers and social service agencies to provide breast cancer screenings and health education to underserved women in our community. Baptist plays a critical role in meeting the unique needs of this community by addressing the significant health disparities faced by African American women, who are more likely to die from breast cancer than women of other racial and ethnic groups.
Through the program, health outcome improvements among participating churches include:
o 20% increase in breast cancer early detection rates
o 15% reduction in breast cancer mortality rates among African American women
o 25% increase in women receiving timely and appropriate treatment for breast cancer
Beyond our walls, Baptist partnered with the City of Pensacola to secure a $4 million grant that was awarded for the development of a new senior center at the Fricker Community Center. Our experts will provide health education and outreach programs at the new location.
We help ensure our broader community has access to health care by investing in community health and participating in collaborative, community-wide partnerships, such as Achieve Healthy EscaRosa and Community Health Northwest Florida. We also sponsor other nonprofits that work to improve the social determinants of health and quality of life in the communities we serve.
The challenge of affordable housing is a nationwide issue that affects us locally. At our legacy campus, we have pledged to the City of Pensacola a donation of $2.9 million in land sale proceeds, 36 acres in the heart of Pensacola, and an additional $3 million match to the City/County’s intended combined pledge of $3 million toward the demolition and abatement costs of the existing buildings. This donation and development opportunity will help address the barriers to affordable housing in our community.
This is just a snapshot of the many efforts that Baptist contributes to support our amazing community. Our Mission of helping people throughout life’s journey is a collective effort of many. As Northwest Florida’s only locally based and governed health care system, we believe that it’s a blessing to be called to serve others in a way that benefits our community now and will continue to do so for generations to come. To learn more about our community engagement, please visit ebaptisthealthcare.org/Community.
Contributed by Mark Faulkner, president and CEO, and Joy Powell, community health director, Baptist Health Care, Featured in the Pensacola News Journal Guestview on July 28, 2024.