NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Working with hundreds of community partners across the region, Southcoast Health invested $22 million in community benefits in its fiscal 2014, according to its most recent report filed annually with the Massachusetts attorney general’s office.
Other than $568,529, which came from grants, the vast majority of the $22 million came from operating expenses, reported Kerry Mello, Southcoast Health’s community benefits manager. Funds were allocated to efforts to reduce smoking, help residents lose weight, improve diet, avoid diabetes, detect cancer and heart disease and help address pressing health equity issues such as chronic homelessness. Almost $10 million of the $22 million went directly to charity care that supports the region’s most vulnerable residents; in the prior fiscal year, Southcoast Health invested approximately $23 million in community benefits.
“As a not-for-profit health system, we are driven by our mission of promoting the optimal health and well-being of individuals in the communities we serve. Safeguarding and improving the health of hundreds of thousands of individuals and families in the region is a passion and commitment that we take very seriously,” said Keith Hovan, Southcoast Health’s president & CEO, in a release. “As the region’s leading provider of health care, we know that improving the health of our population results in lower costs for all of us – and a far better quality of life for South Coast residents.”
The not-for-profit healthcare provider cares for all patients, regardless of their ability to pay. Southcoast Health staff work with local communities to identify the region’s top health care issues and needs, analyzing health data and also seeking extensive input from community partners and residents themselves. The South Coast, particularly in urban areas, has higher-than-state-average rates of obesity, smoking, heart disease, lack of health insurance and teen pregnancy.
“We determine where our region needs our investment and how that investment can best transform and improve lives,” Mello said, in a release. “All of this work is done in partnership with committed partners, including other nonprofits, city and civic leaders, the faith-based community and businesses. We are fortunate to be part of a region where all work tirelessly and collaboratively to help their neighbors.”
Key highlights from 2014’s efforts include:
One success story emerging from several years of work by Southcoast Health and its partners is a dramatic decline in smoking among New Bedford residents. New Bedford has traditionally had smoking rates far higher than the state average, but after working with the YMCA through Voices for a Healthy Southcoast, public housing officials, city leaders and others, the rate has dropped from 28.4 percent to below 20 percent over a recent five-year period.
In another initiative, Southcoast Health is working with area farmers and community groups to establish easily accessible farmers’ markets and Community Supported Agriculture programs.