Because community means everything

Danielle Moss, shown here with her daughter, Arianna Cason, credits the Spectrum Health Maternal Infant Health program for helping her get where she is today.

Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service Recipient

We are deeply honored to have earned the Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service. This sought-after award recognizes our efforts, in collaboration with our community partners, to provide greater access to care, build healthier families and connect people to resources that can improve or even save lives. It is a culmination of hard work and endless dedication. We believe our communities deserve nothing less.

As one of the most revered community service awards in healthcare, the Foster G. McGaw Prize recognizes the achievements of hospitals and health systems and inspires strong partnerships that significantly improve the health and well-being of their communities.

The mission of Spectrum Health is to improve the health of the communities we serve. To accomplish this mission, every member of our community must be reached, including the underserved that may lack access to care or be at risk for poor health outcomes. Since 1997, Spectrum Health has been building the infrastructure, resources, community-based programs and services to reach underserved individuals through its Healthier Communities Department.

Our Strategies

• Reduce infant mortality
• Advance family economic security as a means to improve health
• Improve community wellness and reduce chronic disease

Eight area agencies collaborate to improve maternal-child health and eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in birth outcomes. The program, which offers outreach, case management, education, mental health services and a fatherhood program, has helped to significantly reduce the infant mortality rate in the county.

Community Partnerships for Wellness and Access to Healthy Food 

Programs specifically tailored to children and minority populations offer health screenings, coaching, fitness and nutritional support. In addition, four independent community agencies collaborate to provide healthy foods to underserved and impoverished individuals.

Spectrum Health School Health Advocacy Program

A partnership with local school districts to improve educational outcomes by reducing student absenteeism through nursing resources that manage acute illness, injury and chronic health conditions. Short- and medium-term goals target chronic absenteeism and reading readiness. Long-term goals include improving rates of graduation, workplace readiness and college entry.

Spectrum Health Core Health Program

This free, home-based program for adults with diabetes, heart failure or COPD has reached more than 2,500 community members to date. It demonstrated a measurable impact by achieving the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Triple Aim goals - a framework that describes an approach to optimizing health system performance.

View the stories of those who have been positively impacted as a result of collaborative efforts with our community partners and focused commitment to improve the health of the communities we serve. Or download a HealthBeat Special Edition eMagazine.