Redefining Health

All ProMedica hospitals and primary care practices screen patients to identify potential barriers relating to food insecurity, financial strain, utilities, training and employment, housing, behavioral health, transportation, childcare, education and personal safety. We have also embedded two evidence-based food insecurity screening questions into our electronic health record to make sure every patient is screened when being admitted for a hospital stay.

Hospital patients who screen positive for food insecurity are visited by a member of the care team. They're also given a basic food care package at discharge and offered more community resources. Primary care patients are given a referral to join in ProMedica's food clinic, where they receive several days of healthy food for the entire household. They also have access to nutrition counseling and other community resources.

If other social determinant issues are identified, patients are placed through a pathway of care that's based on their need and motivation. These screenings also provide insight into the prevalence of a need and the availability of community resources to address those needs.

As part of our SDOH screening, we ask our patients two questions regarding regular access to food. If you screen positive for food insecurity as a patient in a ProMedica hospital, we provide a basic food care package at hospital discharge along with information about community resources. If you screen positive at a ProMedica doctor's office, we connect you with ProMedica's food clinic, where you'l receive several days' worth of food for your family, access to nutrition counseling and other community resources.

In 2014, Ohio's infant death rate per live births was 7.33 percent — well above the national rate of 5.93 percent. Among Black infants, the rate was 14.3. To address this issue, ProMedica implemented patient screenings in obstetric, pediatric and emergency departments to identify women whose babies are at risk.

At-risk women are referred to the Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB so they can be connected to the care and social services they need to carry full-term, healthy-weight babies.

Safe housing is a vital aspect of every person's overall well-being. Through patient screenings, ProMedica identifies patients in unsafe or unstable living conditions.

Through referrals to the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, we strive to eliminate home health hazards, such as exposure to lead. This is especially important because the rate for children testing positive for lead poisoning in Toledo is nearly double the statewide rate.

Financial stability plays a critical role in individual and family health, as well as quality of life. Through patient screening, ProMedica is able to identify patients who may benefit from financial coaching and other financial services in our communities. ProMedica is the first health system in the country to operate a Financial Opportunity Center (FOC), which offers coaching in a group and one-on-one setting to people of all zip codes and incomes.

ProMedica and LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) joined together in 2018 to form a groundbreaking partnership: The Health Impact Fund. The purpose of this fund is to support development in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. With its focus on driving health impact, the $25 million loan pool kick-started revitalization projects and enterprises to ramp up inclusive growth and increased economic opportunities in urban and rural communities throughout northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

ProMedica Ebeid Neighborhood Promise is a catalytic, place-based initiative developed to address SDOH and create a model to revitalize neighborhoods. It's named after philanthropist Russell J. Ebeid, who believed in a "hand up, rather than a handout" philosophy for helping people improve their quality of life.

ProMedica partnered with Mr. Ebeid in 2015 to establish ProMedica Ebeid Center to help revitalize Uptown Toledo through access to healthy food, nutritional education, financial counseling and job training initiatives.

Beyond these key areas, the goal of this neighborhood revitalization initiative is to create and implement a viable infrastructure that will support long-term neighborhood health and growth.

We work to eliminate hunger in our communities at the individual and community level. Located in ProMedica Ebeid Center, Market on the Green is a full-service grocery store serving a former food desert that also offers community cooking and nutrition classes. Its mobile market helps provide food access to individuals and seniors throughout the Toledo area.

Through HOPE Toledo, the ENP (Ebeid Neighborhood Promise) pre-school pilot project increases the availability of and access to high-quality preschools within the Uptown, Junction, and Englewood neighborhoods with the goal of leveling the playing field for kids entering school ready to learn.

The purpose of the initiative is to improve school readiness and school performance of 4-year-olds in our community, strengthen the capacity of providers in the neighborhood to achieve and sustain high quality (SUTQ) ratings, increase the number of high quality slots available and enrollment rates for 4-year-olds and improve attendance rates of children enrolled. The program will collaborate with partners to build the effort toward a full citywide launch.

The HOPE Toledo Promise Scholarship Scott High School Pilot will provide postsecondary educational opportunities (4yr, 2yr, Trade/Certificate) for free to all qualifying graduates of Scott High School through a generous gift from the Kadens Family Foundation. This includes tuition, room, board, fees and books. Additionally, one parent or legal guardian of a participating student can access the same opportunity.

In Lenawee County, Michigan, the ProMedica Veggie Mobile offers fresh and affordable produce year-round to underserved rural areas throughout the county. ProMedica Farm, also in Lenawee County, is a three-acre campus that contains a hoop house, outdoor gardens, and an indoor classroom space for Lenawee residents to engage in learning opportunities.

Pregnant women need early and regular prenatal care to help ensure their babies are born full term and at a healthy weight. Unfortunately, not all women have a support system to help care for themselves, manage stress and receive prenatal care. A partnership with The Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio, The Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB regional care coordination system launched in 2007 to combat infant mortality in Lucas County. Since then, low-income pregnant women have been connected to the medical care and social services needed to have full-term, healthy weight babies.

The Pathways HUB system relies on community health workers and other care coordinators employed by multiple clinical and community sites to assist those in need by working with them to develop a care plan and overcome barriers. Pathways HUB staff coordinates and trains community health workers and other care coordinators, as well as tracks intervention results.

A small business growth collaborative focused on the Uptown neighborhood, JumpStart aims to significantly increase entrepreneurial outcomes and to focus effort and development of neighborhood-based small businesses, particularly for women and people of color.

The Small Business Growth Collaborative allows providers to self-determine their area of expertise, then meets regularly to share client needs, assign resources, and troubleshoot barriers. The Impact Program is designed to provide focused business advising and industry-specific mentoring in a setting where they can learn from JumpStart and from one another. The Funding Pool provides direct support to entrepreneurs through small grants.

We offer jobs and employment training through ProMedica Ebeid Center, both through Goodwill Job Connection Center at the Ebeid Neighborhood Center and through community classes. This includes a 5-week State Testing Nursing Assistant (STNA) training program to prepare students for providing resident/patient care in multiple healthcare settings, such as long-term care facilities, hospitals and home health agencies.

ProMedica also hosts a Summer Youth Employment program for individuals ages 16-22 who are interested in healthcare careers and professional development. The program is in partnership with Jesup W. Scott High School.

The Village on UpTown Green is for those seeking affordable, high quality housing in an up-and-coming neighborhood that has access to amenities, entertainment, and additional employment opportunities in Toledo. This creation of a mixed use, mixed income development in the heart of Toledo's UpTown neighborhood offers units to individuals who make 120% of Area Median Income (AMI) or less. The development will create 120 new apartments, two commercial spaces, and will catalyze other housing development opportunities. It is the first known mixed income, non-LIHTC housing model in Ohio, if not the country.