Iowa Health - Des Moines - The Center for Healthy Communities

Overview

Projects undertaken by the Center for Healthy Communities are aimed at improving access to health care, promoting healthy lifestyles, and promoting a healthier community for residents of Polk County and surrounding areas. The Center links Iowa Health - Des Moines (IHDM) and its resources to identified community needs. The Center serves as resources to both IHDM and to the community at-large, developing relationships with partners in the corporate, education, health, human services, and public sectors. The Center’s community partnership goals include leveraging opportunities for systemic changes, improving health care access, and promoting a healthier community. The Center for Healthy Communities accomplishes this by:

• Linking IHDM services and resources to the communities we serve
• Bringing together groups to create solutions
• Providing opportunities for incubation projects and programs that will benefit the community

Impact

The Center has been instrumental in leveraging a variety of resources toward impacting the health of the community. The Center has also functioned as the project lead or committed partner for many community initiatives. Sustained community projects and partnerships that focus on healthy community initiatives, health care access and enrollment, medical debt, school readiness, and workforce development have received support and leadership from IHDM through the Center for Healthy Communities.

Challenges/success factors

The philosophy of partnerships, collaboration, teamwork, and commitment to community is the foundation of the work of the Center for Healthy Communities. Shrinking funding sources and diverse needs require creative strategies and partnerships. Through continuing to assess the needs of our community, IHDM will work to leverage appropriate resources, both within and outside of the hospital, to adequately respond to the issues.

Future direction/sustainability

Iowa Health - Des Moines, through the Center for Healthy Communities will continue to lead the community in identifying community health issues and responding to them. IHDM will also continue to dedicate resources, financial and other, to promote and sustain these programs. In addition, IHDM will explore ways to continue to support the community’s health needs through targeted engagement and strategic partnerships.

Advice to others

Developing healthy communities is hard work and requires a variety of strategies. To effectively engage with your community, consider the following:

• Don’t go it alone!
• Understand your community. Understand your organization’s resources. Plan your community engagement carefully.
• Engage in all areas that influence health: access to care, lifestyles and behavior, socioeconomic factors, and healthy and safe environments.

Contact: Sidney Ramsey
Vice President, Business Development & Marketing
Telephone: 515-241-3405
E-mail: ramseysl@ihs.org