June 6 Recognized as Community Health Worker Day in Ohio
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, June 10, 2024
June 6 Recognized as Community Health Worker Day in Ohio
Governor Mike DeWine and Lieutenant Jon Husted officially recognized June 6, 2024 Community Health Worker (CHW) Day in the State of Ohio. The Central Ohio Pathways HUB (the HUB) celebrated the occasion with a celebratory day for the over forty CHWs that are a part of the HUB that included motivational and educational programming, as well as programming meant to give CHWs a day to rest and focus on their own self-care.
The HUB was acquired by Health Impact Ohio, a CMA affiliate, in 2019, and has served 6,700 clients since HIO began managing it. In the five years of operation, HUB CHWs have initiated nearly 53,000 connections to care and services for Central Ohio’s most vulnerable and marginalized friends and neighbors. Of the 53,000 services initiated, almost 40,000 have been completed, which means that individuals have been successfully connected to vital care and resources to put them on a path to better health and wellbeing. Currently, CHWs in the HUB are serving 852 people in the service region of Franklin, Delaware, Licking, Fairfield, Ross, Pickaway, Madison, Union and Marion counties.
“CHWs are not only educating, referring, and helping their clients navigate health, social and/or workforce systems but 75% of the time, an outcome of verified connections to care and services, is achieved. Not only does this mean that clients reach their goals of better overall health, but in most cases, these outcomes generate payment via Medicaid Managed Care Organizations or other payers, bringing financial sustainability to our community for addressing otherwise unmet needs,” says HIO President & CEO, Carrie Baker.
In addition to providing management and administrative support to the Central Ohio Pathways HUB, HIO also operates a CHW education program that trains CHWs to become certified. Accredited by the Ohio Board of Nursing in 2020, the Central Ohio Pathways HUB CHW Certification Training Program has graduated seven cohorts of students who have learned about everything from health equity to chronic disease management, mental health first aid, to global and national health disparities and beyond. The over 230 students who have graduated the program have gone on to pursue successful careers as CHWs, serving local agencies in Central Ohio, and contributing to narrowing the gap in access to quality, equitable care and services the region has experienced especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. The program has welcomed students from high school junior and senior aged, up to people in their sixties who have PhD’s and every age and demographic between, with the focus on sending CHWs into the public health workforce with lived experience that is relatable to their clients, allowing for trust to guide the journey they take together to achieve better health and wellness outcomes.
“There are days that there’s heavy lifts that you’re not prepared for emotionally, mentally. But it happens. I show up for my clients every single day and they know they can rely on me. I share my lived experience with them and that helps them feel more connected to me and they definitely open up more,” shared HUB CHW and Central Ohio Pathways HUB Certification Training graduate Amber Wright.
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Health Impact Ohio (HIO) is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit statewide health improvement collaborative.
HIO’s mission is to improve social drivers of health, health equity, access, and quality in all communities, through community engagement and partnership; multi-stakeholder training and coaching; data collection and integration; and strategy development and deployment. HIO believes that all people in Ohio should have the best healthcare and social health experience possible. As a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization, HIO has demonstrated success bringing public and private entities together to learn and affect community change in support of our most vulnerable friends and neighbors across Ohio, having done so since 1999. HIO’s work dedicates itself to a collaborative approach, ongoing assessment and continuous quality improvement for collective impact, data-driven decision-making and addressing health equity.
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