Community Benefits
Lawrence General's Community Benefits Program is accountable to the Hospital trustees, who live and work in the communities we serve, and to the President and Chief Executive Officer. Last year, Lawrence General contributed $4,072,730 in community benefits and net charity care to our region. The Hospital's community outreach and clinical staff members carry out program activities in collaboration and partnership with local organizations such as: Alliance Imaging
Alliance Imaging American Cancer Society Regional Office American Red Cross Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) Cardiovascular Institute at BIDMC Chelmsford Police Department City of Lawrence Commonwealth Hematology and Oncology Community via Press Ganey Surveys Community via new LGH Website Community via Social Networking Community Medical Associates (CMA) Community via Surveys Diabetes Today Coalition Edgewood Retirement Community Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley, Inc. Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center Greater Lawrence Family Health Center (GLFHC) Greater Lawrence Family Residency Groundwork Lawrence Home Health VNA Jackson Lumber Work Health Initiative Lawrence Community Works Lawrence Fire Department Lawrence General Hospital Auxiliary Lawrence High School Lawrence Senior Center LGH Operations Council Members LGH Patient Family Advisory Council (PFAC) Massachusetts Department of Public Health Mass General Hospital (Pediatric Cardiology) MassCONECT Collaborators Mayor's Health Task Force Members of the Hospital Board of Trustees Merrimack College Merrimack Valley Community Development Committee Merrimack Valley Health Services/Alliance Imaging Merrimack Valley YMCA MITS Associates Notre Dame High School North Andover Public Schools Northeast Center for Healthy Communities Tavah Retirement Community Tobacco Free Community Partnership Tufts Medical Center United Way of the Merrimack Valley YMCA of Merrimack Valley YWCA of Lawrence
Performing a Community Health Needs Assessment is the best way for the Hospital to understand how we can develop programs that best serve the needs of our patients. By conducting internal patient surveys and assessing interview data, as well as data available through sources such as MassCHIP, behavioral risk factor survey data, quality benchmarking data, special reports such as the DPH reports on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities or periodic Birth Statistics and market data, we keep informed on our communities' changing health needs. In addition, we solicit community input through mechanisms such as surveys, web site communication and a large network of nearly 30 community contacts as well as the development of the Hospital's first Patient-Family Advisory Council.
Current identified community health priorities are maintaining community insurance enrollment under Massachusetts Health Reform, increasing access to mammography and rapid follow up care, tobacco control, reducing obesity and associated heart disease and diabetes prevention, and support for local youth including introducing youth to health careers.
Goals of Our Community Benefits Plan:
- Improve the health of Merrimack Valley residents through programs including trauma prevention, heart disease and stroke prevention, diabetes control, cancer prevention and early detection, youth health education and advocacy for a safe and healthy environment.
- Maintain access to care for the urban poor and reduce health disparities through outreach efforts by working for the continued success of Health Reform, through interagency collaboration, and via advocacy for those in need.
- Increase access to primary care by supporting the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center and the Lawrence Family Practice Residency Program, which trains family practice physicians who are committed to caring for under-served populations.
We measure short-term success in numbers effectively cared for. Longer term program effectiveness is confirmed when local health outcomes meet or exceed state or national benchmarks.
Key Accomplishments
Continued collaborative efforts with The Mayor's Health Task Force leveraged our outreach, particularly to address local access to affordable care and cancer prevention with a focus on reducing disparities by increasing access to mammograms. Activities included sponsoring a Women's Night Out and increased outreach by our Breast Health Navigator. Other focus areas included diabetes prevention education at events such as Fiesta de Salud, diabetes support group sessions, and childbirth and parenting education at community sites. The Hospital offered extensive financial counseling, continuing to help people enroll in and maintain health insurance under Massachusetts Health Reform and offered a Health Insurance Fair open to the public staffed with bi-lingual counselors. Trauma prevention efforts included a bike rodeo and car seat fittings at events both on and off campus.
Plans for Future Reporting Years
- To increase cardiac health prevention through our Heart Depot Outreach Program
- To offer free cancer screenings for the uninsured, with financial counseling available
- To offer a program to help reduce obesity and associated diabetes in our service area
- To continue to promote a tobacco free campus and provide smoking cessation services to employees and members of the community
- To continue our support for local youth through career education programs
- To continue to extend our childbirth and parenting education "beyond the hospital walls"
- To offer a more robust health information through our new web site and via a new series of lectures and seminars
- To enhance our needs assessment and community advisory process
To review Lawrence General's full report to the Attorney General for this past year, click here.
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