Health and Wellness Grant awarded to N.B. Health Department

A community-based partnership led by the City of New Bedford Health Department, in collaboration with the City of Fall River, has been selected by the Patrick Administration to receive grant funding and participate in a community-based innovative health and wellness initiative. The partnership, called the Southeastern Health Initiative for Transformation (SHIFT) program, was announced by the Administration as one of nine grants totaling more than $40 million that will be shared across the state to help fight chronic illness and improve health outcomes on the community level while reducing health care costs. Funded partnerships will work to reduce rates of the most prevalent and preventable health conditions, advance healthy behaviors, increase the adoption of workplace wellness or health management programs and address disparities.

“The Patrick Administration and Department of Public Health Commissioner Cheryl Bartlett are committed to improving health and wellness throughout the Commonwealth. They recognize the critical role that community-based partnerships can play in growing healthy behaviors and reducing the most widespread and preventable health conditions,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell. “I have no doubt that the work of the New Bedford-Fall River partnership, led by New Bedford Public Health Director, Dr. Brenda Weis, will lead to improved health outcomes and reduced health care costs in the region,” he said.

The Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund supports community-based partnerships in achieving measurable health goals through research-based interventions. Working together, municipalities, healthcare systems, community organizations, businesses, regional planning organizations and schools design community-specific programs addressing issues such as: hypertension, smoking, falls prevention among older adults and pediatric asthma. As a condition of funding, each partnership must achieve specified health and cost saving benchmarks on at least two of these four health issues prioritized by the Trust.

The New Bedford Health Department will bring many partners together to serve the high need populations in New Bedford and Fall River. By selecting appropriate health conditions, thoughtfully connecting resources with programs and demonstrating a clear understanding of the health care delivery model, this partnership is well-positioned to develop and implement interventions to reduce tobacco use, hypertension, pediatric asthma, falls among the elderly, mental health issues/depression, and substance abuse.

Each of the nine partnerships, including New Bedford, will receive up to $250,000 in grant funding for the first phase of their work. As grantees demonstrate their readiness to implement interventions in community and clinical settings, they will receive additional funding up to $1.5 million for each of the next three years. The amount each receives depends upon population covered and the number of conditions addressed.

The City of New Bedford Health Department is the coordinating organization for the grant, working together with the following partners to achieve the goals outlined in the grant:

• Boston Medical Center Injury Prevention Center
• Bristol County Elder Services
• Catholic Social Services
• Child and Family Services
• Coastline Elderly Services
• Fall River Health Department
• Fall River Housing Authority
• Fall River Public Schools
• Greater New Bedford Community Health Center
• HealthFirst Family Care Center
• Immigrants’ Assistance Center
• Inter-Church Council of Greater New Bedford
• Maguire Allergy Pediatrics
• Mass in Motion / Mass in Motion Kids
• New Bedford Housing Authority
• New Bedford Public Schools
• Partners for a Healthier Community
• Positive Action Against Chemical Addiction
• Seven Hills Behavior Health
• Stanley Street Treatment and Resources
• Steward St Anne’s Hospital Corporation
• Southcoast Health System
• Tobacco-Free Community Partnership
• University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth College of Nursing and Center for Policy Analysis
• YMCA Southcoast