Increasing the number of youths and adults at a healthy weight is a top priority for Lancaster General Health. Their commitment to improving the health of the community they serve in seen through a number of programs, including the Eat Well for Life program, which labels cafeteria food with green, yellow and red flags to help diners make educated choices; the Lighten Up Lancaster County Coalition, a 250+ member group that helps individuals and families make the healthy choice the easy choice; a Corporate Wellness Team that provides guidance to employers wanting to start their own Employee Wellness Program; and ShapeDown, a 10-week program that helps overweight children learn positive ways to make healthy eating easier for the whole family.

The hospitals of Sunrise Health – Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, MountainView Hospital, Southern Hills Hospital and Sunrise Children’s Hospital – have partnered together to raise funds, food and donate their time to southern Nevada’s food bank, Three Square. During tough economic times, more and more people in the community are not receiving proper nutrition, which can lead to serious health conditions. Through this partnership, the hospitals and broader community are working to end hunger in southern Nevada. In addition to charitable donations, Sunrise Health employees volunteer their time at Three Square’s distribution center and collect non-perishable food items throughout the year.

The Huntington Hospital Community Asthma Program provides an overview of asthma triggers and asthma medications. The program offers free asthma education for adults and parents of children diagnosed with asthma. Asthma education is taught in English or Spanish. Additionally, the clinic offers a free asthma evaluation for children, adolescents and adults. All participants are screened, evaluated and treated by an asthma/allergy specialist or pulmonologist.

Pen Bay's health education programs include more than 60 free clinics, medical screening days and educational outreach opportunities in addition to 75 classes and support groups. These include free community health education through Pen Bay's Picker Family Resource Center; free and low-cost blood pressure, colon cancer and other screenings; free and low-cost flu vaccinations; and the Zing! Program to encourage children to adopt healthy eating and exercise habits.

Lowell General Hospital considers increasing health literacy and understanding medication usage a core part of keeping patients and the community safe. They have continued ongoing efforts to increase education and understanding around medication usage and safety to the general community, with a focus on the elderly in collaboration with the Lowell General Hospital pharmacists. Additionally, they provide health information resources in various languages to meet our community's needs. Efforts include: providing Get Med Smart home medication lists in Spanish and Portuguese, medication safety information provided to the community through Get Med Smart presentations, and stroke and influenza education information available in Spanish, Portuguese and Khmer.

Newark Beth Israel Medical Center partnered with Garden State Urban Farms to bring nutrition/wellness education and access to healthy foods to the area. What began as an indoor farmers market has grown into an earth box garden and farm in an empty lot owned by NBIMC. The working farm produces organic vegetables, fruits and herbs. More than 1,500 children have been educated on healthy nutrition and farming, and more than 200 women who visit the WIC clinic weekly have access to healthy food. The Beth Garden also provides opportunities for work and volunteering.

The Louisiana Hospital Association recently launched the second phase of its Smart Choices, Better Health Hospital Campaign, a hospital workplace wellness initiative. While Louisiana hospitals continue to work on implementing phase one of the campaign, which focused on healthy eating, exercise and weight loss, they will begin strategically planning for phase two, which focuses on smoking cessation. Hospital leaders throughout the state were given the training and resources needed to help employees and the public quit smoking and to help their hospitals become tobacco-free campuses, if they are not already.

Aurora Healthcare's innovative healthy-aging program, Center for Senior Health and Longevity, addresses the unique health care needs of older adults. Compassionate senior resource RNs provide home visits to assist seniors whose preference is to live at home or in the most independent setting, as well as to help coordinate care as seniors move between care settings. The Center fosters intergenerational care and respect, and provides expertise and geriatric education to more than 400 clinical caregivers in Wisconsin through free "Going from Good to Great in the Care of Seniors" conferences.

Chester County Hospital's organizational structure is designed to embrace and ensure that education is a fully integrated element of their service delivery system. In particular, the department of Community Health and Wellness Services is charged with facilitating programs and services that address important health issues relating to lifecycle, health promotion, early detection and management of chronic disease. The hospital hosted 375 educational events that were attended by more than 10,000 individuals and also participated in numerous other collaborative events throughout the year, such as local festivals, where several thousand more people were in attendance.

In 2011, Lowell General Hospital set the goal of increasing chronic disease management tools and prevention education, as well as reaching more individuals in the Greater Lowell community with classes, seminars and screenings. They were successful in meeting the goal through a combination of intervention and prevention programs including: monthly cardiovascular risk screenings, monthly CPR, AED and first aid classes, mall walking and river walk programs to help increase physical activity, monthly blood pressure screenings and education, diabetes self-management programs and other outreach programs.

The LRGH Healthcare Community Education Department participated in 184 preventive health and safety programs and special events in the last fiscal year, reaching more than 4,100 people. Programming is designed to address identified community needs, including, but not limited to chronic disease prevention and care, tobacco cessation, obesity, health care for seniors, CPR training, alcohol and drug abuse prevention and community safety and injury prevention initiatives.

Camp Nokose was started by St. Mary's Hospital and Health Care System to help address the needs of grieving children in the Athens community. Camp Nokose is a day-long experience where campers learn that the feelings they are experiencing surrounding their grief are normal and shared by others. They participate in a range of activities in which they created lasting memories of their loved one, learned to express their feelings through journaling and gain an understanding of life and death through therapeutic activities. At the end of the camp, a closing ceremony was held in which campers and their parents or guardians released balloons containing written messages to their loved one. The camp is free and open to any grieving children in the community.

Clarinda Regional Health Center's Home for the Holidays program was initiated by the emergency medical services team and offers free, roundtrip transportation services for patients from a care facility to a family gathering and back during the holiday season. The hospital volunteers its medical expertise and ability to transport medically needy or bedfast-care facility residents to what is a rare and/or sometimes last visit home. The program runs from the week of Thanksgiving through the last week of December.

WellSpan York Hospital's "Get Fit! Have Fun!" attracts 25-30 kids every Tuesday (from March through October) in an inner city neighborhood. The program, run by the hospital's family medicine residents, is designed to combat childhood obesity through reaching children early and helping them become active and adopt healthy habits. Weekly activities feature four stations, where kids, ages 4 to 14, spend 15 minutes at each. The stations include an obstacle course, a relay race, some type of game, and a sports activity such as soccer or football. Children complete health surveys and have their baseline height and weight recorded at the both the beginning and end of the program.

Carrington Health Center launched a Faith in Action, a volunteer-based program that provides services to enable individuals to maintain a healthier and more independent lifestyle. The program's focus is broad and can be age or disability specific or can focus on informal care including help with everyday activities such as transportation, shopping and other errands. Faith in Action volunteers also provide friendly visiting, respite for caregivers, light housework and telephone reassurances.

Because Fulton County Medical Center recognizes the paradigm shift toward preventative health care services and the growing need for wellness-related activities, it has grown its Community Wellness program by 450 percent. Previously serving 150 visits per month, the program now has grown to over 700 visits per month. This was achieved by adding Community Wellness and Silver Sneakers programs, as well as adding group exercise programs in the local senior citizens centers, churches, businesses, community groups and to the hospital's own employee wellness program. It is the Fulton County Medical Center's hope that increases in these types of resources for the community will contribute to improve health, well-being and quality of life for its community. 

Yampa Valley Medical Center's SportsMed Concussion Management is a community-based approach to concussion management, partnering with physicians, physical therapists, athletic trainers, coaches, school counselors, nurses, teachers and families. It includes pre-season cognitive testing to measure brain processing, speed, memory and visual motor skills. The coordinated effort allows for the best possible outcome for the athlete or individual and promotes a safe return to play or work.

TriHealth was recently recognized for its innovative and effective employee wellness promotion. As an early proponent of employee wellness promotion, TriHealth created a Lifestyles Department as a step toward improving the health of the greater community. Efforts evolved into a comprehensive program that provides incentives for employee health care insurance premiums, helps employees with chronic diseases manage their conditions and encourages engagement in physical, intellectual, social and spiritual wellbeing to help employees and their families live a well-rounded, happy and healthy life.

Texas Children's Hospital and the Houston Bar Association's Houston Volunteer Lawyers today announced the formation of a medical-legal partnership (MLP) that will provide Texas Children's low-income patients and patient-families with critical legal assistance. This is the first partnership of its kind to be offered in the Houston area.

The Foundation for Healthy Communities of the Ohio Hospital Association recently recognized Memorial Hospital for its leadership in improving the health of its community through outreach and wellness promotion. Memorial Hospital has expanded on more than 13 years of wellness programming, including several employee wellness services and activities for the broader community, as well as a robust childhood obesity initiative.

Valley County Health System hosts an annual "Celebrate Being a Woman" event that promotes living a healthy lifestyle and features health-related presentations by medical personnel, a complimentary meal and access to more than 40 health-related vendors. Celebrate Being a Woman provides an opportunity to highlight what's new in women's health to area women at no cost. The event enables hundreds of women each year to talk to professionals and to one another about the real-life issues they face.

The First Step Resource Center at St. Patrick Hospital incorporates a children's advocacy center and an adult sexual assault response team. The hospital coordinates with medical and mental health providers, social service professionals, patient advocates and law enforcement and prosecution officials to pursue the truth in child abuse and adult sexual assault investigations. The team investigates and prosecutes, as well as provides assessment, treatment, education and prevention. First Step ensures an effective, efficient, coordinated and consistent delivery of services - putting the victim at the center of the response.

Berkshire Health Systems’ Get Cuffed Berkshires is a community-based hypertension program that brings existing outreach and public health services together to organize evidence-based initiatives, including free blood pressure screenings and targeted educational programs. In the first few months of the program, more than 2,500 individuals have been screened, and more than 200 high-risk patients have received blood pressure cuffs with education. Partnerships have been established with various health care providers and associations.

Northwest Medical Center established the Northwest Focal Point, a partnership with the city that links hospital care to community support services for older patients. The program aims to create a true community-wide continuum of care for older patients by connecting them to counseling, health support, physician taxi services, Meals on Wheels, etc.

Palmetto Health was recently recognized for meeting the Working Well "Gold Apple" criteria for working diligently to implement a healthier food environment.  This honor was accomplished by providing the highest standard of excellence for delicious, affordable healthy food and is supported by Palmetto Health's policies and benefits that make healthier food choices more accessible and more affordable. Working Well is a collaborative effort between the South Carolina Hospital Association and NC Prevention Partners to improve the health of hospital employees across the state by establishing worksite wellness culture where the healthy choice is the easy choice.

Southeastern Regional Medical Center's hospice program holds Camp Care on the third weekend in May as a way for children experiencing bereavement to find support from a specially trained and caring adult volunteer staff, as well as others their own age who have experienced loss by death. Children, due to their age, limited experience and lack of coping skills may find the grief process very difficult. The camp's small-group recreational programming includes crafts and games, as well as grief-related activities and rituals of memorial.

Sabetha Community Hospital's Healthy U - A New School of Thought program is a free-of-charge, 12-week, healthy lifestyle education program that features weekly lectures educating participants on successful weight loss management and healthy living. The program lectures are led by a physical therapy assistant/health promotions specialist, a registered dietician and a medical doctor.

Patients hospitalized for tobacco-related illnesses may be the most motivated to quit using tobacco. That's the presupposition behind a tobacco cessation program, Hospitals Helping Patients Quit, recently developed by the Oklahoma Hospital Association and now used by nearly 30 Oklahoma hospitals. These hospitals screen patients initially to evaluate their tobacco use, and respiratory therapists assess a patient's readiness to quit and try the cessation program. The program has two main parts: prescribing physician-approved medications, including gum and patches, to manage nicotine withdrawal symptoms and referring patients for free counseling. With funding from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, OHA provides on-site education, consultation and technical assistance to embed a sustainable system and process that includes the medications and Tobacco Helpline counseling referrals.

Parkview Health System’s Community Nursing Program includes a staff of 13 nurses, a respiratory therapist and a full-time nursing leader provided by Parkview works with other local non-profit agencies to improve community health. The initial impetus was the shortage of nurses in four area schools. When that effort was successful, the program expanded into other school districts, social service agencies and broad collaborative efforts, such as the Indiana Joint Asthma Coalition and the Minority Health Coalition.

The goal of Huntington Hospital’s RN Health Counselor community outreach program is to successfully connect families and individuals to existing community programs and resources. As part of this effort, community outreach RNs participate in health fairs, provide health education and health counseling and coordinate disease specific screenings, such as breast cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer screening events each year.  Additionally, free seasonal flu vaccinations are provided each fall.

Sabetha Community Hospital established the Healthy U – A New School of Thought program, a free-of-charge, 12-week, healthy lifestyle education program that features weekly lectures educating participants on successful weight loss management and healthy living. The program lectures are led by a physical therapy assistant/health promotions specialist, a registered dietician and a medical doctor.

Truman Medical Centers and the Hospital Hill Economic Development Corporation launched the TMC Healthy Harvest Mobile Market. The TMC Healthy Harvest Mobile Market is a mobile grocery store unit that will travel throughout the urban core on a weekly basis bringing residents opportunities to purchase healthy choices such as fresh fruits and vegetables in their community at an affordable cost.

Avera St. Luke’s Hospital’s “Nurturing New Families” program is a no-cost service that ensures timely visits with new mothers and their babies for early identification of jaundice, as well as support for breastfeeding and parenting challenges. Soon after discharge, members of the BirthPlace staff call each new mother to strongly encourage a visit to the Nurturing New Families clinic, which provides a weight check of the newborn and assessments of both mother and child.

Washington Hospital Center's Cancer Institute has established the Cancer Support Services program to provide support services to meet the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of patients and their families during and after cancer treatment. It provides resources and programs for cancer survivors to learn about their diagnosis and understand the choices they have for living well after cancer. Programs include an overview of specific cancers and ways for participants to reduce their risk through symptom recognition, early detection and lifestyle modifications.

The Greenville Hospital System created the Every Woman health initiative to help women of all ages, races and economic backgrounds achieve and maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle through prevention, early detection and appropriate medical interventions available through Greenville Hospital System. Every Woman began in 2003 as a year-long community health awareness initiative designed to educate women about the prevalence, prevention and causes of heart disease and has reached more than 10,000 women.

Camp Luv-A-Lung, is an annual event for children who have just completed grades 1 – 8 with respiratory problems. Sponsored by Children’s Hospital of Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center and GHS Respiratory Care Services, the camp helps children have a good time while receiving disease-specific education. Counselors are all health care staff, and nurses are available around the clock.

According to a recent report from the Health Services Cost Review Commission – the state commission that regulates hospital rates in Maryland – Maryland’s hospitals are providing more than $1 billion of benefits to the communities they serve.

Bear Lake Memorial Hospital hosts an annual community health fair that provides free and low-cost screenings, including skin lesion checks, prostate exams, foot checks and bone density screenings. Area physicians provide health services and information, and various other community organizations offer activities ranging from free massages to bike safety clinics. Youth are able to participate in building their own first aid kits, glucose and blood pressure testing, navigating an obstacle course and more.

Hospital leaders at Phelps Memorial Health Center became concerned that area children who eat a free or reduced-price school breakfast and lunch may go hungry in the summers. In summer 2010, they launched the Summer Lunch Program to ensure no child went hungry when school was not in session. The program was open June and July, Monday through Friday, in an area church. Phelps Memorial collaborated with several entities to spread the word, enlisted volunteers to help serve and chaperone the lunches and hired three school-cafeteria employees to run the program. Every child who desires a meal is welcome; there are no low-income criteria.

Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island’s First Steps program enables new mothers to learn about how to have a healthy family and make new friends in a supportive and open environment. At each meeting, a maternal child health topic is discussed, healthy snacks are provided and a gift relating to the topic is given to each family. The impetus for the program was to provide assistance to mothers without a strong support system at home who are at higher risk for postpartum depression and could use a support group.

Sacred Heart Hospital offers health and wellness education to area youth through an Annual Pediatric Health Fair. The event is designed to teach children about the importance of making healthy choices and adopting healthy habits at a young age. The fair encompasses the whole "body, mind and spirit" of children and stresses prevention and education on how to stay healthy.  This year, more than 1,000 second graders from 22 schools in Eau Claire County, WI, participated.

Kewanee Hospital, a rural critical access hospital, has excelled in their journey to improve the wellness of their employees, patients and the community they serve.  They have done so through a variety of wellness programs that have had great results in reducing BMI, blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol levels of participants.

Ochsner Health System began their “I Can Do It!” program by offering students scholarships to an obesity program at a fitness center, which it still does. But in 2007, the program commissioned a customized mobile fitness unit to travel the region supplementing shrinking physical education programs and encouraging healthy, active lifestyles. In 2010, the “On the Move” mobile unit spent 2,000 hours visiting 230 sites including the Ironman triathlon, New Orleans Saints youth training camps and a wide variety of community events.

Truman Medical Centers was recently awarded the 2012 National Minority Quality Forum Booker T. Washington Award for leading the way toward a healthier Kansas City community through patient-centered and community-based programs that empower patients to make the best health care choices and become their own advocates for a healthier life. The Booker T. Washington Award recognizes individuals and organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion of wellness in minority communities.

MedStar St. Mary's Hospital Health Link's program offers a wide variety of classes and training to help people living with a chronic health condition-as well as their families and caregivers-improve their quality of life and navigate their health care. The "Living Well with Chronic Conditions" program is a central part of Health Link and helps people not only live with their condition, but live well.

Now in its sixth year, Scale Back Alabama is a free statewide weight-loss contest designed to encourage Alabamians to get healthy and to have fun while doing it.  It is a public awareness campaign hosted by Alabama's hospitals and the Alabama Department of Public Health, with support from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama. More than 7,500 teams are participating in the 2012 Scale Back Alabama program. Last year's campaign drew more than 33,000 people in almost every county with a cumulative reported weight loss of 143,309 pounds.

The Nassau-Suffolk (NY) Hospital Council, made up of Long Island’s not-for-profit and public hospitals, collects food to donate to the St. Hugh of Lincoln Food Pantry that provides hundreds of families in the local area with food and other staples. The hospitals do so with the goal of providing proper nutrition to residents and maintaining healthy communities.

The North Shore-LIJ Health System sponsored its first-ever walking challenge, the Walk to Paris. Fifteen thousand employees laced up their sneakers to compete for a free trip to Paris, France. The walk challenges employees to collaborate in teams of 10 to walk 7.2 million steps (the approximate length to Paris) in three months, or approximately 8,000 steps a day. The fitness challenge is one of many initiatives that the 15-hospital health system has rolled out to improve the health and wellness of its employees – including an interactive wellness website.

Effingham Hospital’s “Guys Night Out” was created to increase attendance atto Effingham Hospital’s annual prostate cancer screening event. As an incentive, an off-site provider location is transformed into a place where men gather to watch football’s greatest moments or old-time westerns, complete with “‘guy-friendly”’ snacks, while awaiting their free screenings. The program encourages survivors of prostate cancer to become spokespeople to convey the importance of early detection and treatment.

Northside Hospital’s “MothersFirst Program” is a valuable resource to women who are already pregnant or considering becoming pregnant. MothersFirst offers pertinent education, classes, support groups and services for women throughout the many stages of their childbearing years, from early pregnancy through early childhood. In fiscal year 2010, MothersFirst offered 1,065 classes; reaching 7,838 couples.

Delta Regional Medical Center holds the “Birth & Baby Fair,”, an educational fair, focused on childbirth and newborn child care information for new mothers and mothers-to-be.  Presentations by medical specialists are offered on topics from vaccinations, breastfeeding, birthing plans to “You’ve Brought Your Baby Home. Now What?” Delta Regional Medical Center saw a need to  and wanted to provide additional support and education to these patients and their mothers.

Elliot Hospital's WorkingWell Program  provides on-site wellness programming to New Hampshire employers and assists companies in developing a wellness culture. The program also provides on-site health screenings, counseling, information on risks and wellness strategies to manage these risks.

Delaware’s hospitals spent $92 million -a $42 million increase since Fiscal Year 2008 - on community benefit programs designed to create healthier lives in almost every corner of the State.

Carolinas HealthCare System is partnering with 12 YMCA branches to create synergy between health and wellness. A registered nurse staffs a CHS Health Center at the YMCAs, providing screenings, health fairs, classes and more, often at no charge. Local physicians now refer patients to the program, and the program helps many patients without a doctor establish a medical home. So far in 2011, the program has had 75,000 visits.

1n 2010 Centra offered free health fairs and screenings, support groups, community presentations, CPR training courses and mammography events that allowed them to reach more than 12,000 individuals in central Virginia.

A new report by Ernst & Young found that not-for-profit hospitals spend an average of 11.3 percent of their total expenses on benefits to their communities.

Along with other health agencies Illini Community Hospital created The Pike County Community Health Partnership to assess community health and wellness needs; to leverage the collective strength of multiple organizations addressing health and to coordinate resources to deal with scarcities and eliminate duplication of efforts.

Northwest Hospital's Domestic Violence (DOVE) Program provides 24/7 crisis intervention to victims of domestic violence in the emergency department, complete documentation of physical and psychological injuries, referrals to community and legal resources, as well as follow-up case management, support groups and counseling.

Parkview Health System's Community Nursing Program supports a staff of 13 nurses, a respiratory therapist and a full-time nursing leader who work with other local non-profit agencies to improve community health through school-based flu vaccine programs, asthma coalitions and other collaborative community efforts

Clarinda Regional Health Center has a Home for the Holidays program that offers free, round-trip transportation services from a care facility to a family gathering and back during the holiday season. The hospital volunteers its medical expertise and ability to transport medically needy or bedfast-care facility residents to what is a rare and/or sometimes last visit home. The service is available for any community resident within a 20-mile radius of the hospital, from the week of Thanksgiving through the last week of December.

Legacy Health’s Powerful Tools for Caregivers program is a six-week education program for family and friends who are caring for older adults suffering from stroke, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease or similar long-term conditions. Classes provide participants with the skills and confidence they need to better care for themselves while caring for others.

Elmore Medical Center's Center for Community Health (CCH) brings together community stakeholders in assessing unmet health care needs and exploring alternative approaches to health improvement. The Center focuses on health education and connecting local residents with resources. Key areas of need have been identified as alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, nutrition, and obesity

Harlem Hospital Center's Hip Hop Stroke Program is conducted in collaboration with the National Stroke Association and uses music videos to teach young participants to recognize the warning signs of a stroke. Hip hop music provides an easy, yet entertaining method to teach stroke awareness to youth as well as promote lifelong healthy habits.

Grandview Medical Center sponsors DO-WOP (Diabetes and Obesity, Wellness Opportunities Program), a free program dedicated to improving the health, self-image and well-being of children who are overweight. The DO-WOP approach to care is holistic, combining medical expertise and diagnostic tools with nutrition and behavior education and dance exercise. Sessions are 12-weeks long and both child and adult must participate. An increasing percentage of participants are consistently lowering their body mass indexes.

Campbell County Memorial Hospital supports a program designed to reach sedentary children and help them find ways to exercise and eat better for the long term. The six-week ICAN class offers an array of entertaining games and approaches, and builds on current health topics the children are learning in the classroom through the Healthy Schools Initiative.

Norton Healthcare supports the Health Start Initiative, a program that provides case management, education and preventive health services to high-risk infants and their families. Norton's support allowed for an estimated 425 infants, toddlers and women to receive outreach and evaluation services, as well as health education and transportation to health care appointments.

Acadia Hospital and Spring Harbor Hospital in Maine are collaborating with community groups and a local high school to support the creation and production of a movie dealing with teen depression and anxiety. The goal is to address the stigma associated with mental health, encourage students to open up, express themselves and be accepting of others and to seek support in appropriate ways. The movie will be distributed for free to every high school in the state, along with a suggested teaching curriculum and other resources for schools, families and other groups.

Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital's Good NEWS for a Better LIFE program improves seniors' health status through better education, fitness classes, transportation and stronger social support, helping less capable seniors continue to live in their homes.

Iowa hospitals continue to play a key role in the new Healthiest State Initiative by participating in Start Somewhere Walks which were held across Iowa last week. Start Somewhere Walks, were held in each of Iowa's 99 counties and several were hosted by Iowa hospitals

Maryland's hospitals are reaching out into their communities to address specific health care needs, and to make sure people who can't afford care still receive it. These and other efforts mean that Maryland's hospitals are providing more than $1 billion worth of benefits to the communities they serve.

Together with community partners, Jackson Hospital and Clinic offers free sports physicals to student athletes. Children receive free comprehensive sports physicals including screenings for height and weight; heart and lungs; vision, blood pressure, flexibility; and an examination by a physician to help parents and coaches ensure that students are healthy and can participate in athletic programs.

Good NEWS for a Better LIFE, a community outreach program of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital, was designed to improve seniors' health status through better education, fitness classes, transportation and stronger social support.

Nanticoke Health Services created the Minutes Matter program to provide stroke education to patients and to the community at large and do so through hosting health events, speaking to various community groups and running print and radio advertisements. Over the past year, Nanticoke health care providers have attended or hosted nearly 20 health events related to stroke education; there are plans to continue to provide additional health education within the community and online.

Central DuPage Hospital (CDH) supports the ThinkFirst injury prevention program in Illinois. In the last school year, the CDH Injury Prevention team presented injury prevention programs to more than 11,500 students in fourth through twelfth grades. Unique to this chapter, when first graders complete the education program, they are measured and fit with a brand new free bike helmet. Approximately 15,000 area students heard ThinkFirst's important messages about using their mind to protect their bodies.

Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, New York works with partners and area employers to bring community members and local employees the "It's All About ME" Diabetes Program, based on the concept of Move more, Eat right/less. The program encourages participants to make lifestyle changes to prevent diabetes.

St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Edgewood, KY has partnered with 49 organizations - including schools, physicians, churches, businesses, county and state health departments - to create the Northern Kentucky Women's Cardiovascular Assessment, Risk Reduction and Education (CARE) Collaborative. The CARE Collaborative is driven by its mission to educate the community and counter the high occurrences of cardiovascular disease in the state.

To fight childhood obesity, Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, IL partners with the local school district - which serves more than 11,000 students - local parks, area universities, the YMCA and others to provide the Healthy Kids Club Initiative. The initiative targets families in areas where more than 50 percent of children live in poverty. The areas are generally both ethnically and racially diverse. The focus of the initiative is to teach proper nutrition and exercise through three unique after-school programs.

Baton Rouge-based Woman's Hospital operates a Mobile Mammography Coach that provides screening for women at 105 locations throughout a 15-parish area. Staffed by two technologists, a receptionist and a driver, the coach sees approximately 5,800 patients and diagnoses 25 to 30 cancers each year that may have gone undiscovered. The Woman's Mobile Mammography Coach has been successful in reaching underserved women and collaborating with community-based organizations to reduce geographic and financial barriers to cancer care.

In response to growing needs of the older adult population - from battling depression and prescription drug addictions to decreasing falls and the incidence of chronic disease - Chilton Memorial Hospital in Pompton Plains, N.J. developed a free health and wellness program for adults age 50 and over. Working with numerous collaborative partners, almost 40,000 individuals participate in the program, receiving a quarterly newsletter that lists available classes, groups, lectures and workshops.

Nearly 10,000 Ohio children have new tools to combat the obesity epidemic, thanks to creative approaches by four Ohio hospitals that have teamed up with local schools, community organizations and other businesses to undertake childhood obesity reduction programs.

The WEPAC Hoops for Hope Weekend is a collaborative effort between five southwest Kansas communities to increase awareness about women's health while raising money to help prevent breast cancer and other diseases from spreading. Ashland Health Center and Comanche County Hospital put on this annual event with 90% of the proceeds going to pay for mammograms, pap smears and colonoscopies for women in those five small towns.

Christi Hospital in Pittsburg, Kansas Summer Skin Safety program started as an effort to prevent childhood sunburns. The hospital teamed up with the cities of Pittsburg and Frontenac to distribute sunscreen at local pools during "Summer Safety in the Sun" events and during the annual Farm Show.

The New Moms Network is a free service of the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Birthing Center. Moms meet weekly for 1.5 hours; programs range from handling a crying baby to immunizations to fire safety. New moms network and support each other, with community experts providing education each week.

Greenville Hospital System in South Carolina launched a Diabetes prevention initiative called "Small Steps to a Healthy Change" to help reduce the number of diabetes cases in the county.

Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg, VA created “Toward No Tobacco”, a two-week evidence-based tobacco prevention class for seventh- graders in the state's two largest agricultural counties.

Case Study: The Nebraska Medical Center - Senior ASSIST Program, Omaha, Nebraska

Tucson Medical Center gives away safety equipment including bicycle helmets and car seats as a way to improve community health. They also provide a community resource center to promote healthy aging for seniors.

Case Study: Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center - Avera Family Wellness Program, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Click here to learn how hospitals are caring for their communities and promoting community health.