America’s Essential Hospitals, a national group representing hospitals, awarded UMass Memorial Health Care the association’s 2016 Gage Award for Population Health.

UMass Memorial Health Care has been recognized by a national hospital association for its work to reduce school absenteeism, hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) use among children with poorly controlled asthma.

America’s Essential Hospitals, a national group representing hospitals committed to high-quality care for all people, including the vulnerable, awarded UMass Memorial Health Care the association’s 2016 Gage Award for Population Health. Population health is defined as the health outcomes of a group of individuals.

“UMass Memorial Health Care shows how essential hospitals reach into their communities—into schools and homes—to deliver care where and when it can have the greatest impact,” said America’s Essential Hospitals President and CEO Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH.

In 2014, UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center expanded a pilot program for children with poorly controlled asthma. Under the program, when a clinician or school nurse identifies a child as high-risk asthmatic, a specially trained community health worker who works as part of the clinical team, conducts home visits to address asthma triggers and provides basic education to improve medication adherence. The community health worker also connects the family with other needed resources for housing remediation and community legal aid.

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