MultiCare wins community health leadership award
The Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) has awarded MultiCare the 2019 Community Health Leadership Award for its new Oakland High School clinic.
The award, from WSHA’s hospital governing boards committee, is given to a health care organization that is serving its community’s broader health needs in innovative and lasting ways.
The MultiCare Health Clinic at Oakland High School helps students succeed in school by allowing them to focus on graduation without having to leave campus for health care. The school serves students ages 14-21, many of whom face socioeconomic challenges that put them at a disadvantage when it comes to their long-term health equity and financial prosperity.
MultiCare physicians and nurse practitioners staff the clinic and provide preventive care, behavioral health care and treatment for illness and injury.
As a community-focused organization, MultiCare recognized the value in the clinic as part of its broader mission to care for the community from a population-health perspective. Dropping out of high school has been shown to negatively impact employment opportunities, lifetime earnings as well as health outcomes.
“One of the major determinants of health is education, not only the ability to excel and graduate, but to do it in a way where students are healthy and thriving, both in terms of their physical health and behavioral health,” says Lois Bernstein, MultiCare’s Chief Community Executive.
The concept evolved over several years into a partnership between Tacoma Public Schools, MultiCare and Communities in Schools. The clinic opened April 2019.
