FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER | 2020
It Takes A Village
A Joint Letter from Ascension Saint Thomas, TriStar Health, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center Siloam Health has been an integral part of Nashville’s health care landscape for nearly 30 years. Leveraging charitable dollars and volunteer manpower, Siloam meets a vital need for excellent, compassionate, and comprehensive care for Middle Tennessee’s uninsured and underserved, regardless of cultural, national, or faith background. As the three largest health care systems in this region, we find common ground in supporting Siloam’s work of caring for the medically vulnerable in our community. Siloam has been a meaningful partner for each of us over the years. In addition to providing both inpatient and outpatient services to Siloam patients at our facilities, we have supported the organization in a variety of ways. Vanderbilt University Medical Center has provided a language interpretation telephone line that has sustained Siloam’s ability to provide culturallycompetent care for immigrants and refugees. HCA Healthcare and TriStar Health made the lead capital campaign gift to Siloam in 2005, which enabled Siloam to move into its facility in Melrose
completely debt-free. Ascension Saint Thomas has played a vital role in the provision of laboratory and imaging services, as well as the development of Siloam’s Community Health Worker program. In turn, Siloam has served as a medical home for thousands of patients who might otherwise end up in an emergency room for preventable health conditions and has been a preferred training site for hundreds of students and residents across our city. We partner with Siloam because Nashville needs Siloam. Throughout our region, nearly 200,000 people find themselves uninsured and without ready access to health care. Siloam is uniquely equipped to care for these individuals— especially those who struggle to overcome language, cultural, and socioeconomic barriers. Siloam provides excellent care that addresses not just a person’s physical health, but their mental, emotional, and spiritual health as well. The uninsured, underserved, and culturally marginalized find a safe haven at Siloam Health, and we are proud to be their partners.
Tim Adams
Heather J. Rohan, FACHE
Wright Pinson, MD
President/ChiefExecutive Officer, Ascension Saint Thomas
Division President, TriStar Health
Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer, VUMC
Siloam Health and Belmont University: A Shared Vision for Student Pharmacists For nearly 10 years, Siloam Health and the Belmont University College of Pharmacy have linked arms to provide a deeper level of care and education for Siloam’s patients, while also training the next generation of pharmacists in the art of whole-person, culturally-competent health care. Each year, Siloam welcomes around 15 student pharmacists for a month-long rotation in our primary care clinic. Students collaborate with Siloam’s provider team and play a major role in helping patients understand their prescriptions and how to administer them. For student pharmacists like Emily Mullins, the rotation is an invaluable learning experience. “Often times, ‘caring for a patient’ means fixing an ailment or treating an illness. But at Siloam, it means all of that plus caring for them spiritually and emotionally,” says Emily. “At Siloam, I taught patients how to check their blood sugar and administer insulin, but I also learned how to truly listen to a patient in order to provide care based on the full picture of their health.” Dr. Elisa Greene is an Associate Professor at Belmont and has served as Siloam’s pharmacist since our partnership began. Under her guidance, students often serve in a consultant capacity, identifying foreign medications that many immigrants bring
Karina Huong Trac and Vanessa Gresham are two current student pharmacists at Siloam Health.
from their homeland, researching affordable alternatives, and helping providers prescribe and adjust medications. “This partnership has not only changed the way many of our students see their role as health care providers, it has also enhanced the level of care Siloam is able to provide for the patients who need it most,” says Dr. Greene. “Together, Belmont and Siloam are leading the way for pharmacists to play a role in the model of whole-person care.” “When I think about our partnership, I immediately think of our aligned visions,” says Dr. David Gregory, Dean of the Belmont University College of Pharmacy. “Siloam provides health care transformed by love, and we call our students to have a transcendent cause in the care of their patients. In the simplest of terms, we have the same mission to show the love of Christ in our actions by the way we care for others.”
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Siloam Health and Men of Valor worked together to show me what true community looks like. - Mike Martin
Partners in Re-Entry and Rebuilding When Mike Martin first came to Siloam Health, he was at his wit’s end. “After being released from prison, I couldn’t wait to go to the doctor,” Mike says. “My diabetes was out of control, and I had psoriasis covering 70% of my body. They tried to control it in prison, but it’s hard when there are so many people that they’re trying to take care of all at once.” After four years in prison, Mike moved into a residential program provided by Men of Valor, a nonprofit organization committed to winning men in prison to Jesus Christ and equipping them to re-enter society as men of integrity. As part of Men of Valor’s Aftercare and Re-Entry program, Mike spent his first year living in Men of Valor’s group housing, participating in the organization’s discipleship academy, and receiving medical care at Siloam. With a slew of medical concerns and anxiety about how to afford care, Mike was overwhelmed the first time he came to Siloam—not by the challenges of his medical condition, but by the excellent standard of care he received. “When you think of a place that gives health care to people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to get it, you usually think of a lower standard of care,” Mike explains. “It is totally different at Siloam. I could see how hard the staff and volunteers were working, and yet I still felt this overwhelming sense of love and care. [Siloam provider] Dr. Snader sat with me longer than he probably should have, and when I was done explaining all of my mess to him, the first thing he did—even before prescribing a medical plan of action—was to pray with me.” For more than eight years, Siloam has partnered with Men of Valor to provide whole-person health care to men just like Mike. Anthony Charles, Men of Valor’s Aftercare and Re-Entry Manager, says that this partnership has played a significant role in helping men re-enter society and build lives that give back to their communities. “Siloam provides care for our community that goes far beyond health care services. Men of Valor’s relationship with Siloam is more than a partnership. It is making a healing impact as we unite to love, care for, and serve our community.” Mike couldn’t agree more. “Siloam Health and Men of Valor worked together to show me what true community looks like,” he says. “They showed me what it means not just to take, but to give back to your community. I’ve learned to love, to trust, and to be loved all over again.”
We Are Thankful For Our Village! Partners in Care We are thankful for the generosity of the following health care partners, who have helped us by providing health care services for our patients: • Americares • Anatomic and Clinical Laboratory Associates • Ascension Saint Thomas • Associated Pathologists • Brentwood Baptist Mobile Dental Unit • Centerstone • Dispensary of Hope • Direct Relief • Ducklo Eye Group • Faith Family Medical Center • Family and Children’s Service
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HCA Healthcare Inner Vision Women’s Ultrasound Interfaith Dental LabPlus Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center Metro Public Health Department Metro Nashville General Hospital Milam’s Optical Nashville CARES Neighborhood Health Outpatient Diagnostic Center of Nashville PathGroup
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Peace Eyecare Premier Radiology Prevent Blindness Project Access Nashville Quest Diagnostics Radiology Alliance Star Physical Therapy Tennessee Breast and Cervical Program Tennessee Orthopedic Alliance TriStar Health Vanderbilt University Medical Center • YMCA of Middle Tennessee
Partners in Community Service We are proud to have partnered with the following organizations to provide whole-person health care to their clients: • • • • • •
Aphesis House Bethany Christian Services Catholic Charities The Contributor End Slavery Tennessee Hope Clinic
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Justice for Our Neighbors Men of Valor Mercy Ministries The Next Door Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE)
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Project Access Nashville Project Return Tennessee Biker Medical Clinic A Step Ahead Thistle Farms and Magdalene Program World Relief
Partners in Education We are proud to have partnered with the following universities in training the next generation of whole-person care providers: • • • • • • • • • •
Aquinas College Auburn University Augusta University Austin Peay University Bellarmine University Belmont University Chicago Medical School Cumberland University Des Moines University East Tennessee State University
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Excelsior College Georgetown University Indiana State University Lake Erie College Liberty University Lincoln Memorial University Lipscomb University Meharry Medical College Middle Tennessee State University Princeton University
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Tennessee State University Tennessee Technological University Trevecca Nazarene University Union University University of Alabama at Birmingham University of New England University of Tennessee Knoxville Vanderbilt University • Walden University
Siloam Health’s mission is to share the love of Christ by serving those in need through health care. 615.298.5406 | siloamhealth.org | 820 Gale Lane, Nashville, TN 37204