Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

MR CHAMMP Program

From October 2009 to February 2011, MR CHAMMP sponsored 67 programs which were provided to the community. The outreaches led to the establishment of 6 cultural, language and ethnic specific independent follow-up sites. A total of 2,086 people have been educated about hypertension and 1,759 people have been screened.

Additional successes of MR CHAMMP include development of introduction packets in both English and Spanish, incorporation of the program into the pre-existing Women's Heart Center and Men's Heart Health Center at St. Joseph's Healthcare System, a focus group meeting of key community leaders and the utilization of an American Heart Association summer intern.

This project is part of CHA's Response to Disparities.
(Click here for a complete list of projects)

Poor health outcomes for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are apparent when comparing their health indicators against those of the rest of the U.S. population. These populations experience higher rates of illness and death from health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, specific cancers, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, asthma, hepatitis B and obesity.

The existence of racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes, access to care and quality of care stands in direct opposition to the mission of Catholic health care and the Catholic social tradition. To shed further light on this problem and how our ministry is addressing it, CHA asked its members for information about their initiatives to create a just health care system and increase access to all God's people in need.

In response, many unique approaches that are replicable were submitted. The information received underscores Catholic health care's shared commitment to:

• Promote and defend human dignity.
• Attend to the whole person.
• Care for those persons who are poor and vulnerable.
• Act on behalf of justice.
• Steward resources.
• Act in communion with the church.

As a vibrant community of members, CHA's goal in this activity is to engage the ministry in a conversation about the continued need for initiatives that open opportunities for access to quality health care for all, regardless of racial or ethnic background. If you know of a program that can be shared with others, please submit program information so that we can continue to highlight your efforts and share practices across the membership.