Health Equity

Missouri Delta Medical Center, which serves an area ranked high for socioeconomic concerns, specifically food insecurity, created a food pantry to address this issue with patients identified as having this need. Eligible patients receive a box of healthy food to take home when they leave the hospital and are connected to other food assistance services, such as food pantries, enrollment for a monthly senior food box or help applying for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Since opening its food pantry in February 2023, 949 patients have been assessed for food insecurity. Of those, 39% of acute inpatients were identified as having food insecurity and 67% of patients identified with food insecurity accepted a referral to the food bank. Of those referred, most were connected to additional support services and 91% of those patients signed up for text alerts about local food pantries and mobile pantries. Also, 30% signed up for Medicaid and/or SNAP benefits and 36.5% signed up for monthly senior boxes.

Evangelical Community Hospital’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives include recognizing, celebrating and learning about various cultures, backgrounds and histories of various colleagues and communities in its service area and beyond. Updates to the hospital’s quality improvement program, which looks at racial and ethnic diversity with the goal of analyzing disparities in healthcare outcomes, is shared with Evangelical Community’s Patient and Family Advisory Council. This council of current and former patients, their friends/family members and caregivers, use this information for recommendations to improve patient resources and their healthcare experience. For example, a health needs assessment identified transportation as a barrier to community members in need of healthcare. In response, the hospital created Mobile Health of Evangelical to bring preventive and primary care services into the hospital’s service area, providing health screenings, primary and specialty care, dental hygiene and health education.

Sunset Home brings young children to its on-site childcare center (Sunrise Childcare) to encourage interaction with older adults, which helps reduce loneliness, boredom and depression for seniors while also developing positive intergenerational relationships. With limited access to resources in the rural Kansas community it serves, this engagement program by Sunset Home promotes community diversity, where age groups commune together regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds and abilities. Sunset Home said the inclusive activities between the oldest and youngest generations helps the older adults burn more calories, have fewer falls and overall better memory.