Responding to Health Priorities

There is no better way for Lancaster General to be by your side than to know what health issues affect you most and how to address them. Our Mission reflects that desire. It’s not enough to provide superior healthcare. Every day, we work to uphold a 113-year tradition of wellness – one that brings everyone together to create a stronger, safer Lancaster County.

We use every resource available – from federal documents like Healthy People 2010, which sets goals for the nation, to local reports such as Measure Up Lancaster, the Adult Behavioral Risk Surveillance Survey and the Lancaster County Health Data Report. Two years ago, this helped us identify the County’s top three healthcare priorities:

• Healthy weight management
• Tobacco use
• Domestic violence

Using this data, we created programs, formed partnerships and aligned services to help Lancaster Countians become healthier. This year we strengthened those efforts. With a continued focus on healthy weight management, tobacco use and domestic violence, we’re implementing real-life solutions for these very real health problems. Those initiatives continue and the results are contained within this Community Benefit Report.

Valued community partnerships are a critical part of our success. They allow every organization involved to stretch its resources and create lasting impact. Our partners are listed at the end of this report.

Community Benefit Defined   Programs or activities that provide treatment and/or promote health and healing as a response to identified community needs.   To be considered a community benefit, a program must meet one of the following: It generates a low or negative margin. It responds to needs of special populations, such as persons living in poverty and other disenfranchised persons. It supplies services or programs that would likely be discontinued – or would need to be provided by another not-for-profit or government provider – if the decision were made on a purely financial basis. It responds to public health needs. It involves education or research that improves overall community health. Source: A Guide for Planning and Reporting Community Benefit

Of course, we cannot forget our more than 6,500 dedicated employees. Year after year, they give of their time and talents for the people of Lancaster County. One example is our systemwide United Way Workplace Campaign and its kickoff event, Day of Caring, in which 120 employees participated in September. Retired LG physicians provide volunteer care for the medically underserved, and emergency department nurses have taken on additional training and responsibilities to staff the SAFE (Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners) program. Finally, through Helping Hands, employees can secure $1,000 grants

for causes they volunteer for and believe in. The 2005 winners were Ramonita Diffenderfer, RN, for Student Health OUTreach (SHOUT) and Donna Bailey, an LG data abstractor, for the Homeless Student After-School Study Center.