York, Pa., Jan. 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WellSpan Health is committed to fostering vibrant, healthy communities in an effort that extends beyond providing exceptional health care. In its recently released Community Impact Report[RC1] , Central Pennsylvania’s only locally based and locally governed health system shares progress on initiatives aimed at improving health outcomes so that individuals can live their healthiest lives.
WellSpan’s impact includes infusing more than $6.6 billion into the regional and local economy in 2024 and supporting 23,000 jobs, which provided $1.5 billion in salaries to local families. Additionally, WellSpan contributed $346 million in community benefit through strategic outreach and community engagement initiatives.
“WellSpan’s mission to provide exceptional care for all is essential to the health of our communities," said Roxanna Gapstur, Ph.D., R.N., president and CEO of WellSpan Health. " As a trusted partner, we are committed to ensuring access to affordable care and actively investing in community organizations to improve social drivers of health leading to longer, healthier lives for those we serve."
Specific to community engagement, WellSpan:
- Screened nearly 400,000 patients for food, housing and transportation insecurity, and connected those in need with services to cultivate healthy communities.
- Invested more than $1.5 million to improve food insecurity.
- Distributed more than $1.9 million through the Spark Community Grants Program and Summit Endowment, supporting 60 high-impact programs and projects across the region.
- Invested $2 million in care models that supported 178 unhoused neighbors in 22 specialized Arches to WellSpan beds across four counties.
- Provided more than $173,000 in grants dedicated to mental health support, with a special focus on adolescent mental health.
- Reduced disparities and promoted health equity by providing equitable access to cancer screenings, addressing maternal morbidity rates in Black women and launching WellSpan’s annual Black Men in White Coats Youth Summit, among others.
WellSpan is also committed to nurturing the health, safety and development of our children to ensure they thrive from birth through adolescence. Through the Spotlight on Children’s Health initiative, WellSpan collaborates with a dozen community organizations to enhance early childhood education and mentorship programs. It also guides the work of the lead screening program at WellSpan, with more than 400 cases of elevated lead levels identified in just Lancaster and Lebanon Counties in 2024. WellSpan’s Safe Kids partnership installed 397 car seats and, in conjunction with Cribs for Kids, distributed 394 cribs to families in need.
WellSpan is also strengthening the economic engine of its communities by investing in education, infrastructure and local partnerships to create a stronger, healthier local economy. From a proposed affiliation with Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine to open a new medical school campus to collaborative efforts with Jersey College to establish a hospital-based School of Nursing in York, WellSpan is boosting and infusing the economy with an increased number of students and professionals who will live and work in the region because of these schools. At the same time, the schools provide a critical pipeline developing the health care professionals of tomorrow, close to home.
Similarly, WellSpan-branded neighborhood hospitals in parts of the region underserved by current health care options continue their construction progress toward opening in late 2025. These will not only provide more jobs in the region but also increase access to emergency care in technologically advanced brand-new hospitals. Meanwhile, other WellSpan facilities have extended their progress toward sustainable sourcing of local products and services that benefit the local economy. From local food sourcing for hospitals from partners like Bell & Evans to keeping the WellSpan York Hospital expansion project on track with 80% local contractors, WellSpan shows its commitment to the vitality of our communities in all it does.
All of these efforts collectively demonstrate the steps being taken to transform health care and enhance the lives of everyone in central Pennsylvania. Learn more about these and other innovative initiatives at www.WellSpan.org.
[RC1]Will make live link when report is published.
Ryan Coyle WellSpan Health 7178513151 RCoyle@WellSpan.org
