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JOHN
C. LINCOLN HEALTH NETWORK IN PHOENIX WINS
FOSTER G. MCGAW PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNITY SERVICE
Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center in Vermont, The Pittsburgh
Mercy Health System and St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City Also Recognized
 CHICAGO,
Ill., January 23, 2003 - Recognized for its exceptional vision, leadership
and compassion in serving the needy members of its community, John C.
Lincoln Health Network in Phoenix was selected to receive one of the healthcare
field's most prestigious honors: The Foster G. McGaw Prize for excellence
in community service. The $100,000 award is sponsored by the American
Hospital Association, The Baxter International Foundation and the Cardinal
Health Foundation.
Three Foster G. McGaw
finalists will each receive a $10,000 prize. They are Mt. Ascutney Hospital
and Health Center in Windsor, Vt., The Pittsburgh Mercy Health System,
and St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan.
"This year's
prize winner and finalists are truly inspirational organizations,"
said Susan Manilow, chair of the Foster G. McGaw Prize Committee. "Their
outstanding programs show us all what can be done right now to make a
real difference in people's lives."
"John C. Lincoln
Health Network emerged as the award recipient because its programs demonstrate
the best in what can be achieved by a healthcare organization with an
unwavering commitment to improving the health of its community,"
Manilow continued. "Through vision and clarity of purpose, it has
become an irreplaceable community asset and a model of leadership."
The John C. Lincoln
Health Network is a community-based non profit organization that includes:
a 262-bed hospital with a Level I trauma center, a 127-bed community hospital,
a 155-bed specialty nursing and long-term rehabilitation facility, an
adult day health care center, a children's urgent care center, primary
care medical practices and many other community services focused on the
needs of the most vulnerable in the community.
While the network
serves a broad geographic area and nearly a dozen communities, the majority
of its community programs are centered on its North Mountain hospital
campus, located in Sunnyslope. The area is challenged by poverty, hunger,
poor housing and crime. In some neighborhoods, 23 percent of residents
live below the federal poverty level. In addition, the area has seen an
alarming increase in the number of homeless families; 240 shelter beds
are filled to capacity year round.
"Community service
is an integral part of what we've always been," said Dan Coleman,
president and chief executive officer, John C. Lincoln Health Network.
"We offer a helping hand at critical times to lead our neighbors
to health, self-sufficiency and a better, sustainable quality of life.
We have worked for years to enlist financial support from generous donors
and government partners to ensure that our community services will have
funding from external sources when times are difficult in our core healthcare
business."
In 2001, John C. Lincoln
Health Network gathered more than $21 million in resources - money, volunteer
time and donated goods - for community services. In addition to its leadership
and financial commitment to community, the network is also known for its
compassion on a person-to-person level that permeates the network's culture.
Program participant
Michael Rex saw this first hand when, last October, his car, his tools
worth $15,000 and his livelihood were stolen. The theft was a "knock
out punch" that sent his life into a tailspin, Rex recalled. Hearing
Rex's story, Jerry Ketelhut, director of John C. Lincoln's Desert Mission
Food Bank, immediately told him about the organization's Marley House
Family Support Center.
Rex tears up when
he recalls the help he found at the Marley House. "They opened their
arms to me," he said. Rex considers his caseworker, Lydia Lester,
his "angel." When he was evicted, she helped him find temporary
housing. She also helped him get his twin 9-year-old girls enrolled in
the Lincoln Learning Center after school - one of the network's quality
childcare programs. Rex recently was hired to work for the network's transportation
department and has a plan for getting back on track.
Some of Lincoln's
community services that have helped thousands of people like Rex include
the following:
- The Desert Mission
Food Bank offers temporary help to families in need and last year
served 58,766 individuals in its emergency food box program. 81,382
individuals were served through all the Food Bank programs. About a
quarter of the people served are working adults who cannot afford to
feed their families.
- John C. Lincoln
Health Network provides leadership and support for a coalition of community
groups called The Sunnyslope Youth and Family Partnership. One of the
fruits of this partnership is the Marley House Family Support Center,
a one-stop center where families can get help with a wide array of needs:
physical, social, economic, medical, educational, recreational and nutritional.
Eight agencies collaborate and serve 1,500 families each year.
- John C. Lincoln
Health Network runs Sunnyslope Village Revitalization (SVR),
which was established in 1993 as a non-profit community development
corporation focusing on housing, neighborhoods and businesses to reverse
the severe deterioration of the community. The agency has rehabilitated
33 owner-occupied homes, constructed 16 new homes, has collaborated
with law enforcement to vacate blighted and crime ridden structures,
and has facilitated a $37 million commercial development project at
a 13-acre site.
Foster G. McGaw
Prize
The following Foster
G. McGaw finalists were also recognized for their accomplishments in community
service:
- Mt. Ascutney Hospital
and Health Center in Windsor, Vt., was recognized for leading its economically
depressed, rural community in meeting health needs across the life span.
- The Pittsburgh
Mercy Health System was noted for aggressive outreach to the underserved.
- St. Vincent's Hospital
Manhattan was recognized for decades of community service to improve
access to health care for underserved populations.
The Foster G. McGaw
Prize, first awarded in 1986, recognizes healthcare organizations that
demonstrate commitment to community service through a range of innovative
programs that expand access to care. The prize inspires hospitals, health
systems and communities to assess and implement programs that improve
their communities.
The American Hospital Association is a not-for-profit organization of
healthcare provider organizations and individuals that are committed to
the health improvement of their communities. The AHA is the national advocate
for its members, who include almost 5,000 hospitals, healthcare systems,
networks, other providers of care and 37,000 individual members. Founded
in 1898, AHA provides education for the healthcare field and is a source
of information on healthcare issues and trends. For more information,
visit the AHA web site at www.aha.org.
As the philanthropic arm of Baxter International Inc., the Baxter International
Foundation helps to increase access to health care in the United States
and other countries. In 2001, foundation grants totaling $4.8 million
improved access to care for children, the uninsured and the elderly, helped
prevent child abuse and neglect, promoted health education, expanded education
opportunities for healthcare providers, and helped victims of global disasters.
Baxter International Inc. (www.baxter.com)
is a global medical products and services company that, through its subsidiaries,
provides critical therapies for people with life-threatening conditions.
The Cardinal Health Foundation was formed in January 2001 as a focal point
of Cardinal Health's corporate community relations effort. Supported by
the global resources of the Cardinal Health family of companies and 50,000
employees around the world, the Foundation's mission is to advance and
fund programs that improve access to and delivery of quality healthcare
services in Cardinal Health's markets. Cardinal Health, Inc. (www.cardinal.com),
with annual revenues of more than $44 billion, is a leading provider of
products and services supporting the healthcare industry.
FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION:
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- Media Contacts:
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Amy Lee, American Hospital
Association, (202) 626-2284
Elizabeth Meagher, Baxter, (847) 948-3297
Debra Hadley, Cardinal
Health Foundation, (614) 757-7481
Polly Baughman, John C. Lincoln Health Network, (602) 870-6309
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