ADVENTHEALTH

AdventHealth and Partners Work to Improve Health in Underserved Neighborhoods

Ahealthy community depends on access to healthy food, education and medical care. To help meet those needs, AdventHealth Shawnee Mission is working with community partners to improve healthcare for two neighborhoods in the Kansas City area.

The plan was inspired by Anna Coridan, RN. A surgical nurse at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission, Coridan moved into a neighborhood in Kansas City, Kansas, to help refugee families with limited access to resources like healthcare and youth programs. She became friends with a group of youth who decided to create a ministry called NC4Y (New Change for Youth). After several months the youth ministry became a Pathfinder Club, which helps young people develop good character traits and learn life skills. “There are still so many kids on the street,” says Coridan. “Our goal is to help these families adjust to life in this country and to know that they’re not alone.”

Coridan and other Pathfinder staff members, who are also AdventHealth team members, shared the NC4Y story with others at the hospital, including Jeanette Metzler, manager of community benefits at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission. Metzler manages the hospital’s Community Health Needs Assessment and collaborates with community leaders to improve public health.

As part of the Community Health Needs Assessment Committee, Metzler and the other leaders work to identify health needs in the area by reviewing community surveys, stakeholder surveys, and hospital inpatient and emergency room data. After hearing the NC4Y story, they knew they wanted to help the families in Coridan’s neighborhood.

“We wanted to focus our

Hugh Davis

improve health resources— Coridan’s neighborhood in Kansas City and another in Shawnee, Kansas. Metzler and the committee talked with school leaders and family service professionals about the issues residents face and how to best serve those needs. The committee’s first goal is to increase access to healthcare services in those neighborhoods. According to Metzler, about 34 percent of people in the Kansas City are covered with Children’s Health Insurance Program.” Another goal is to increase access to healthy food for low-income families in the targeted neighborhoods. That can mean increasing participation in food assistance programs through awareness and sign-up opportunities. “We want to make sure they have access to nutritious foods,” says Metzler. “Obesity can lead to other health issues, so it’s important to focus on providing healthy foods rather than processed foods.”

In addition, Metzler says they’ve started meeting with refugee families in Coridan’s community to learn more about where they need help, whether that’s transportation, education or finding a job. “It ties into the mission of our hospital,” she says. “We want to know how we can best support people so we can improve whole health—body, mind and spirit—throughout our communities.”

The youth ministry NC4Y at the International Pathfinder Camporee in Oshkosh, Wisconsin Ann Muder is a freelance writer and editor for AdventHealth Shawnee Mission.

attention to see what we could do to help people in underserved neighborhoods,” says Metzler. “Anna had built trust with her neighbors, so it made sense to start there and support her in her efforts. By focusing on a small area, we hoped to make a big difference for the residents.” The committee identified two neighborhoods to neighborhood are uninsured, along with 21 percent of people in the Shawnee neighborhood.

“We want to focus on how to connect people with healthcare and how we can get them set up for health insurance,” says Metzler. “That can mean helping them to get access to health coverage and assuring kids

For more information about AdventHealth Shawnee Mission’s Community Health Needs Assessment, visit AdventHealthKC.com.

Neurosurgeon’s Quick Work Helps Save Teen Crash Victim

Kyli Hopkins’ mother credits God and the quick thinking of doctors and nurses at Centura-Littleton Adventist Hospital for saving her daughter from a fate her family is all too familiar with. Three years after her brother was killed instantly because of being hit by a driver while walking, Hopkins was hit too while walking to her gym in a strip mall. “I don’t want another mom to go through what I’ve gone through,” says Hopkins’ mother, Gina. Hopkins’ fiancé, Zach Brock, said her symptoms in the moments after she was struck seemed like concussion symptoms. They would soon learn it was far worse. Although Hopkins was awake and talking at the hospital, doctors decided to perform a CT scan to make sure her injuries weren’t more serious. They realized the internal injury was much more severe than Hopkins’ family had thought. “It went from one nurse to about 30 in the room, and they said, ‘We have to do emergency surgery to save her life,’” Brock said. “The doctors, nurses, everyone here was amazing,” he said of the caregivers at Centura-Littleton.

Centura neurosurgeon Dr. Andrew Romeo performed an emergency operation to remove part of Hopkins’ skull and allow her brain to swell, which avoided pressure that could have ended her life. “The [initial] procedure prevented Hopkins from suffering brain herniation, which is generally a fatal event,” Dr. Romeo explained. “Based on her initial presentation, she was on the verge of suffering brain herniation prior to the operation.” Instead, she’ll soon be headed to rehab and then back to CenturaLittleton Adventist Hospital for another operation.

Hopkins was all smiles when she spoke to Denver’s FOX-affiliated TV station KDVR about her experience, despite a badly bruised leg, 45 staples in her scalp and two skull fractures. “I just feel “It went from one nurse to about 30 in the room, and they said, ‘We have to do emergency surgery to save her life.’”

really fortunate I get to be here,” she told the TV station. The car that hit Hopkins was only going about 10 miles per hour, police told her family, but it was enough to cause the critical injuries. They don’t blame the driver, who stayed on the scene to help, but Hopkins has advice for others. “Just be more cautious, aware of your surroundings and slow down,” she said.

Hopkins is expected to make a full recovery.

Submitted by Wendy Forbes, director of media relations and public relations for Centura Health.

(left) Kyli Hopkins talks with KDVR-TV about being hit by a car and nearly dying from bleeding and pressure in her brain.

(right) Dr. Andrew Romeo is the neurosurgeon at Littleton Adventist Hospital who performed the operation to relieve swelling in Hopkins’ brain.

For more information about Centura Health Rocky Mountain Region, visit centura.org.