In celebration of its centennial year, Baptist Health went beyond the walls of its facilities to make a positive impact in the communities it serves.
Now, the health system’s annual community report shows just how large of an impact its 100 Days of Service campaign made throughout the state.
Giving Back
Over the days of service, staff and providers supported the community in various ways.
Some of those include:
- Introduced 117 students to healthcare careers
- Furnished 651 pairs of shoes and backpacks for children
- Supplied roughly 82,000 baby care items to new parents
- Donated nearly $36,000 worth of food
- Screened more than 2,400 people for heart, lung, colon, stroke and orthopedic issues
- Volunteers collected 258 bags of trash
- Partnered with 88 community agencies
- Collected 350 units of blood to meet local needs
“It is a true honor to give back to our communities and to acknowledge how far we’ve come since our beginnings,” said Gerard Colman, Chief Executive Officer of Baptist Health. “I’m incredibly proud of our team’s dedication to empowering those we serve by providing the tools and support they need to lead healthier, more fulfilling lives. In the spirit of honoring our health system’s legacy, 176 days of service were completed, which far surpasses our initial pledge of 100 days.”
Expanding Care
Additionally, for the first time, Baptist Health’s community report – which includes a yearly update on facts and figures – now includes behavioral health visits, totaling 36,506 over the span of a year.
Each hospital offers some form of behavioral health services, and Baptist Health Medical Group has integrated behavioral healthcare into many of its primary care locations.
“Mental health and addiction treatment emerged as trending topics in our latest community health needs assessment,” said Isaac J. Myers II, MD, Chief Health Integration Officer of Baptist Health and president of the Medical Group. “Healthcare is constantly evolving, and we must remain forward-thinking in how we address all areas that impact the health of our communities. Our goal in expanding access is to ensure the right care is available, at the right time and right place.”
As Kentucky’s largest health system, also providing services in southern Indiana and southern Illinois, Baptist Health ranked first in the number of open heart surgeries, orthopedic surgeries, emergency visits, admissions, births and outpatient visits across the commonwealth.
“It was important to celebrate every month with different events because the range of impacts we have on the community and that the community has on us is very broad. There are many areas of need in our community that we helped out with and that’s what the centennial celebration was all about,” said Jonathan Velez, MD, President of Baptist Health Louisville.
The new community report can be viewed, here (PDF).
For more information, visit baptisthealth.com.
