Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com March 6, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 13 SPONSORED CONTENT A t Trinity Health – New England "people-centered care" is more than an industry buzz word; it's the focus of every behavior, ac- tion and decision made by each of its 13,000 colleagues at its member hos- pitals in Connecticut and Massachusetts. It's also at the heart of its People-Centered 2020 Strategic Plan, developed by corporate par- ent Trinity Health based in Livonia, MI. The goal of people-centered care, as Trinity Health — New England Chief Execu- tive Officer Christopher Dadlez stresses, is to keep patients healthy so they spend less time in the hospital. That requires health care providers to foster better health in the community and provide better care at lower costs through innovative approaches. People-centered care can have a positive economic impact on the health care sys- tem, in addition to saving lives. This unique approach intends to improve the health of North Hartford residents "upstream, rather than downstream," saving costs in the pro- cess. Assisting people before they become ill is a worthwhile investment from both a clinical and economic standpoint. Both Hartford and Springfield were the beneficiaries of Trinity Health's investment of about $80 million in Transforming Com- munity Initiatives grants, loans, community match dollars and services for eight commu- nities over the next five years. Recipients of the initial grants are teams who will use the funds and other benefits to work together to improve health and well-being in their respective communities. "We've been pretty shy about how we've invested in people all these years," said Marcus McKinney, D.Min., LPC, vice presi- dent of community health and chief health equity officer at Trinity Health – New Eng- land. "What we need to be known for is the social determinants of health work in which we're actually spending money wisely and reducing the risk that you're going to get sick or become sick again. That's the downstream picture. The upstream approach is a smart in- vestment of money, helping people to over- come their problems before they become worse. If we go upstream at the beginning of the year — say nine months earlier — and invest in the kind of things we're talking about [obesity, smoking, lack of transporta- tion, safe havens, etc.], we'd get at the root causes. That's a cost-effective investment." Expanding perceptions "Trinity Health – New England and Saint Francis recognize that health is more than health care," said Rick Brush, North Hart- ford director at Community Solutions and CEO of the federal Way to Wellville initia- tive. "It's also a function of where we live, social factors and physical environment. To improve community health, you need the entire community — residents, organiza- tions, government and investors — working in partnership to make significant changes for the better. That's the idea behind the col- laborative." It starts with the premise, state both McKinney and Brush, that living in North Hartford should be good for you. But that's not always the case. People in North ' Clinical health care, either in an emergency department, a hospital, or a clinic, is only about 20 percent of what impacts one's health.' Continued > – Marcus McKinney, vice president, community health and chief health equity officer at Trinity Health – New England The Curtis D. Robinson Center for Health Equity at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center is an innovative model committed to closing the gap of health disparity within the health care system. Its team is diverse and multicultural, representing under-served populations and collaborating with other groups such as state agencies and grassroots organizations. Photo / J. Fiereck Photography

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