Supporting youth mental health

SCHOOL-BASED HEALTHCARE SERVICES MAKING AN IMPACT IN NEW ORLEANS

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly taken a toll on Americans across all demographics, but one group that appears to have suffered more than most is children.

Recent studies of emergency department visits found that mental health visits increased 24% for children ages 5 to 11 and 31% for those ages 12 to 17 between 2019 and March-October 2020.

The pandemic also made disparities in mental health services more significant. Students who needed access to school-based services the most, particularly those with lower socioeconomic backgrounds, had lower rates of counselors and school psychologists in their districts. These conditions have helped fuel what U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, has called “a mental health pandemic for youth.”

At DePaul Community Health Centers (DCHC) of New Orleans, one of five Ascension Community Health Ministries nationally, leaders and clinicians have found a way to address the critical need by working with local public and private school systems to provide behavioral health services to elementary, middle and high school students. DCHC operates 11 health centers throughout metro New Orleans.

DCHC has provided school-based health services since 2016, well before the pandemic. With the help of two local grants,

DCHC has expanded the program to include behavioral health services at the same time the need is growing.

“The need for behavioral health services was already evident following Hurricane Katrina in 2005,” said Kawana Ripoll, DCHC Executive Director of Behavioral Health, Substance Abuse and School Based Programs. “Our ‘Katrina babies’ — children who were infants to 5 years old when Katrina hit — are now in high school. We are starting to see that these teens are dealing with the delayed trauma of living through the hurricane.”

For many students, school is a respite, but following the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of students continue to have issues navigating stress and many are lacking positive coping skills.

“In order for us to truly meet the needs of students, we must first understand what the needs are,” said Stephenie Marshall, Executive Director, DCHC. “So we have representatives who are in the schools engaging with school staff who are dealing with students that are having behavioral health concerns. Unfortunately, we are seeing an uptick in the number of suicidal students.”

Today, DCHC offers behavioral health services in 25 schools and has expanded outside brick and mortar with a mobile health unit and telehealth services. Services address behavior and attention problems; depression; parent-child relationship issues; medication management; grief, loss and other traumatic events; and more. Depression assessments and counseling are also available for individuals, groups and families.

DCHC’s telehealth program uses a team care model, bridging the gap between social workers and counselors. The team includes a licensed psychiatric clinical provider who works in collaboration with a school nurse. The school nurse completes an initial assessment and then hands off care of the student to a therapist. Depending on the level of need, the therapist can develop a full treatment plan or simply work with a parent over the phone to make changes to a child’s medication dosing.

“While most services are still provided on-site, the expansion of telehealth services has allowed us to serve even more students, removing geographic barriers and offering more convenience for working parents,” Kawana said.

Parents also play a critical role as part of the care team. “It’s a great feeling to be able to collaborate with parents to assist the mental health needs of children within schools in New Orleans, and in the community,” said Tobias Robertson, MA, LPC, a DCHC counselor. “The parents are always grateful to have a partner, and they know we are here for them.”

Behavioral health services are just one of the many services DCHC provides. Other health services include dental care and vision and hearing screenings, all free of charge. These services are currently provided through three school-based clinics.

“DCHC’s Mission has always been to serve the needs of our most vulnerable,” said Michael G. Griffin, President and Chief Executive Officer, DCHC. “Our collaboration with local schools is a true amplification of our Mission and our goal to improve the health of communities, and there’s no better place to start than with our youth.”

Alabama

Sister recognized by senate

When state Senate President ProTempore Greg Reed introduced a Senate joint resolution to honor accomplished Alabama women during Women’s History Month, Sister Chrysostom Moynahan was recognized as the state’s first registered nurse; for creating the state’s first nursing school, St. Vincent’s Nursing School; and for leading nurses in Italy who treated soldiers during World War I.

Baltimore

Focus on women’s health

Ascension Saint Agnes Health Center Columbia opened this spring with a special blessing, ceremony and celebration. It is one of the most comprehensive ambulatory centers in the area, offering primary care; OB-GYN services; and surgical, medical and ancillary specialty services. “This will be another location where our patients can come and receive comprehensive care,” said Bill Cook, MD, FACP, Internal Medicine, Ascension Saint Agnes. “This new location will bring primary and specialty care, along with ancillary services, all under one roof for one-stop personalized and compassionate care from our top-notch medical team at Ascension Saint Agnes.”

BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK

Bariatric reaccreditation

The center focuses on pre-surgery and post-surgery care to ensure the best possible outcomes and features dedicated weight-loss facilities and equipment, including two patient classrooms. Hospital trains medical students

Ascension Sacred Heart Bay in Panama City, Florida, is now an official core site for the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine. This designation will allow the hospital to receive and host medical students for education and training. The first group will consist of five students scheduled to arrive this fall.

Illinois

Substance use disorders workshop

Surgical milestones reached Ascension St. Vincent’s Birmingham clinical teams completed their 300th transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure. “Reaching 300 TAVRs is certainly a milestone that could only have happened through teamwork, hard work and dedication of all participants,” said Cathy Smith, RN, Structural Heart Coordinator. “The true heroes are our patients, whom we have the privilege and honor to serve. We are truly blessed to give patients back their quality of life through such an amazing procedure as the TAVR.”

Lourdes’ Bariatric Surgery Program received reaccreditation through 2026 from the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program, a joint program of the American College of Surgeons and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

Kathy Connerton gets community award

Kathy Connerton, Lourdes President and CEO, received the 2023 Distinguished Citizen Award from the Baden-Powell Council of the Boy Scouts of America for the positive influence she has had on the Binghamton community.

Florida And Gulf Coast

Weight-loss center opens

Ascension St. Vincent’s Southside in Jacksonville, Florida, opened a weightloss services center to offer patients the convenience of having all appointments, including surgery, in the same facility.

Ascension Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital collaborated with Harper College on “Collaborative Care in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders,” a live workshop featuring addiction and behavioral health experts from across Ascension Illinois. More than 700 in-person and virtual participants heard about the latest addiction medicine research from leading Ascension Illinois physicians. Micro food pantry opens

State legislators and local elected officials joined Ascension Holy Family at the opening of its micro pantry. This is the eighth micro pantry established at an Ascension Illinois facility. Micro pantries provide a private source of food for anyone who might need it. These pantries provide easy, 24/7 access and are funded through community benefit programming and donations.

Superhero visits

The Ascension Saint Alexius Women & Children’s Hospital staff put on their capes and celebrated National Superhero Day in the spring. Batman, Batgirl, Captain America and others made the rounds cheering our youngest patients. The heroes brought activity kits and lunch to the children and their families.

Indiana

Nurse co-authors article

Sarah Nicholson, BSN, RN, Ascension St. Vincent Women’s Hospital in Indianapolis, co-authored an article, “The Eat, Sleep, Console Method: A Literature Review,” in Neonatal Network®.

Patients participate in plane pull

Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent was a beneficiary of the Republic Airways 11th Annual Plane Pull in Indianapolis, where teams of 10 were challenged to pull a 24-ton jet 15 feet. This event honors the life of an Ascension St. Vincent patient who died at the age of 9 in 2004 while battling leukemia. Sixteen patient ambassadors, who have all been treated at the hospital at some point in their lives, showed off their strength during the ceremonial “first pull.”

Top 50 heart hospital

Ascension St. Vincent Heart Center was recognized in the 50 top cardiovascular hospitals list by Fortune | PINC AI™ and named the No. 1 hospital in the top community hospitals category. Those listed operated at a lower cost and had better outcomes and significantly higher inpatient survival rates, fewer patients with complications, and lower readmission rates than their peers.

KANSAS Hospital offers specialized therapy

The Cancer Institute at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis in Wichita became an approved site for four CAR T-cell therapies, offering new hope to patients with certain blood cancers that have returned or stopped responding to treatment.

Care closer to home

Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg expanded its ultrasound and echocardiogram services to its nearby rural Fort Scott clinic, increasing access to close-to-home diagnostic cardiology, obstetrics and general imaging services.

Michigan

Dr. Darla Granger elected United Network for Organ Sharing representative Darla Granger, MD, FACS, MBA, Section Chief, Transplant Surgery, Ascension St. John Hospital, was elected by peers to serve as Region 10 Associate Councillor for the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). Dr. Granger will serve on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network’s Membership & Professional Standards Committee for two years as the Region 10 representative. Then she will transition to Councillor and serve on the UNOS Board of Directors for an additional two years.

Elliott Breast Care Center reopens Elliott Breast Care Center at Ascension Providence Hospital, Novi Campus, reopened following the completion of a renovation and expansion project to care for a growing patient base.

Halfway house opens

A new, 8,600-square-foot Ascension

Brighton Center for Recovery Halfway House replaced two separate housing facilities and doubled its capacity to 32 individuals. The $3.4 million, donor-funded project was completed over two years. Amenities at the new sober-living residential facility include eight bedrooms, three laundry areas, a large kitchen, a community dining room, four group/ lounge spaces and outdoor patios.

Oklahoma

Afghan refugees find work

Refugees from Afghanistan have found work at Ascension St. John after many fled their home country during the Taliban takeover. Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma, which aids with refugee resettlement, said 14 Afghan women and men work at Ascension St. John facilities through food service and support services provider TouchPoint.

Rehabilitation hospital opens

Ascension St. John and Encompass Health Corp. opened a new joint venture rehabilitation hospital in Owasso, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The 40-bed inpatient hospital is the second joint venture between Encompass and Ascension St. John; a 60-bed facility is located in Broken Arrow.

Tennessee

Neighborhood hospital opens Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Westlawn opened as Tennessee’s first neighborhood hospital. Operating as a satellite campus of Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford, this 32,000-squarefoot facility will improve access to care for residents of Murfreesboro’s Westlawn, Blackman and surrounding neighborhoods. The hospital includes eight inpatient hospital rooms and an emergency department staffed with board-certified ED physicians that will serve the community 24/7. Diagnostic imaging, laboratory, pharmacy and telemedicine services are offered on-site.

First open-heart surgeries

Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford reached a significant milestone by performing the county’s first open-heart surgeries and advancing the level of heart care in the community to include artery bypass grafting, aortic valve surgery, mitral valve surgery and treatment for ascending aortic aneurysms.

Texas

New hospital opens

Bishop Joe S. Vasquez, Diocese of Austin, marked the opening of the Dell Children’s Medical Center North Campus in North Austin with a blessing of the doors. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and police department heroes, Williamson County first responders, and hundreds of others joined together for a community celebration.

Expanding women’s health

Ascension Seton broke ground for a women’s tower on Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin’s campus as part of an ongoing plan in collaboration with Dell Medical School at the University of Texas and UT Health Austin.

New nerve injury clinic

Ascension Seton opened a multidisciplinary nerve injury clinic for adult traumatic injuries to the nerves, including stretch, crush, stab and gunshot wounds. The clinic’s team includes neurologists, neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons with subspecialty training in hand surgery, nursing specialists, rehabilitation specialists and more, allowing patients to be seen by multiple specialists in a single visit.

Wisconsin

Associate featured as Everyday Hero

Tricia Burkett, the state coordinator for Safe Place for Newborns, was featured as an Everyday Hero on Spectrum News. Safe Place for Newborns, with support from the Ascension Wisconsin Foundation, provides education and awareness across the state about the Safe Haven Law in Wisconsin, which allows a parent to leave their newborn in a safe place in certain circumstances with certain individuals.

Families celebrate babies’ 1st birthdays

Ascension Wisconsin’s Blanket of Love program celebrated the first birthday of babies whose moms participate in the program, which provides prenatal and parenting education to families with the goal to help more babies reach their first birthday by reducing preventable causes of infant death including premature births and unsafe sleeping environments.

Ascension Foundation

Diversifying the healthcare workforce

The Ascension Foundation, Community Impact team and DePaul Community Health Centers of New Orleans worked together to bring #GOALS (Go Out And Love Science) to New Orleans as part of an initiative designed to diversify the future healthcare workforce. Nearly 500 middle school students took part in hands-on activities — including learning CPR and building robots — and were encouraged to study science and pursue careers in healthcare by current medical students and professionals.

Ascension Living

Memory support centers open

To better meet the needs of seniors and their loved ones, Ascension Living Bethlehem Woods Village in LaGrange Park, Illinois, and Ascension Living Providence Village, in Waco, Texas, opened assisted living memory support residences where care is designed around what is familiar and comforting to residents in a cottagelike community.

Ascension Rx

Accreditation achieved

Ascension Rx received a six-year accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. The program has grown from providing approximately 1,500 continuing education hours in FY19 to nearly 25,000 hours so far in FY23. This program offers online and live study free of charge to Ascension Rx pharmacists and pharmacy technicians/advocates.

Ascension Technologies

Teams make sure digital tools work for vulnerable populations

About 42% of people who use Ascension’s digital tools are members of vulnerable communities. So data analysts from Ascension Technologies work with cross-functional teams to ensure digital services are as user-friendly and accessible as possible, including monitoring and analyzing users so product strategies can take into account all populations.

Community Health Ministries

Louisiana welcomes new center DePaul Community Health Centers (DCHC), which operates 11 health centers throughout metro New Orleans, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new, 9,400-square-foot health center in Harvey, Louisiana. This was the first of three new health centers DCHC plans to open through 2024.

Medxcel

Employee engagement recognized

Medxcel received the 2023 Achievers 50 Most Engaged Workplaces® Award and attributes much of its success to dedicated associates who live out its values each day. For the past six years, Medxcel has been recognized for demonstrating leadership in leveraging innovative employee engagement and recognition tactics. Medxcel was rated on “Eight Elements of Employee Engagement”: Purpose & Leadership, Culture Alignment, Manager

Empowerment, Recognition & Rewards, Professional & Personal Growth, and Well-being.

THE RESOURCE GROUP

Welcome 2023 interns

The Resource Group welcomed a new intern class of 22 bright, diverse and dynamic students representing 18 universities. These future leaders will contribute significantly across the organization through participation in initiatives including but not limited to ABIDE, the Responsible Supply Chain pillar of Ascension’s sustainability vision, and ongoing supply resiliency efforts. Last year, 100% of the subsidiary’s interns reported they had a valuable experience and 97% would recommend the program to others.

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