FORT WAYNE, IND. – JULY 20, 2022 – Parkview Health has received six grants totaling more than $1.2 million from the Indiana Department of Health to improve multiple community health issues that have been identified as priority areas for Hoosiers.
Parkview’s $1.2 million in grants was out of $35 million in the initial round of statewide funding awarded as part of the state’s Health Issues and Challenges program, which was established by the Indiana General Assembly in 2021 with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
“These funds enable us to create or enhance several programs that go beyond traditional levels of care,” said Dena Jacquay, chief administrative officer, Parkview Health. “Parkview continues to look for ways that we can improve or prevent health issues that impact the well-being of our community. We are grateful for the state’s support and look forward to seeing the positive results that will come from these grants.”
Parkview Health is one of more than 150 entities to receive funding for the Health Issues and Challenges program, which focuses on the following priority areas: tobacco use, food insecurity/obesity, lead exposure, hepatitis C, chronic disease (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma and cancer), public health prevention programs, substance use disorder and community health workers. Priority was given to applicants that demonstrated high need and high impact in their grant proposals.
Parkview’s six grants are outlined below:
In the category of food insecurity, Parkview received $643,381 to create the FAST (Food Assistance and Support Team) program. FAST will connect patients and healthcare providers with community/government-based food assistance programs to improve the health of individuals identified as food insecure.
In the chronic disease category, Parkview was awarded $150,000 for an Asthma Education and Management Program. This integrated program will include education, in-home environmental visits and an emergency department call-back program.
Also in the chronic disease category, $148,344 was awarded for Parkview’s Neuroscience Outreach Network. Patients with elevated blood pressure or chronic hypertension will be referred to this program for additional services focused on preventing and reducing the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and associated risk of stroke.
Another chronic disease, diabetes, will be addressed with a $97,980 grant for a diabetes prevention program. Using the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program curriculum, Parkview’s Enterprise Diabetes Services team will identify individuals with pre-diabetes and put them on a path to prevention of diabetes and other metabolic diseases.
In the community health worker category, a $149,986 grant was awarded for a Pediatric Medical Complexity Community Health Worker program, which will assist families in building their own capacity to provide and care for their medically complex child(ren). As a frontline change agent, the community health worker will help reduce health disparities for some of the most vulnerable children in underserved communities.
Also in the community health worker category, Parkview received $94,000 for its Oncology Patient Navigators, a team of social workers with degrees in sociology, psychology and the arts. At Parkview Cancer Institute, the navigators help to lessen the physical, emotional and financial burden of cancer for every patient and their families.