Foundation for Healthy Communities News Release
For Immediate  Release                         

   Contact: Tiffany Himmelreich

July 11, 2003  

614-221-7614

tiffanyh@ohanet.org

Ohio Hospitals Award Grants for Better Breathing

 

COLUMBUS – Twenty-three Ohio hospitals will receive $337,718 to assist persons suffering from severe chronic pulmonary disease. The Foundation for Healthy Communities, a charitable arm of the Ohio Hospital Association, approved grants for pulmonary rehabilitation at large and small institutions. About two-thirds of the grants were renewals of successful efforts last fall to provide support for costly pulmonary rehabilitation programs.

 

The distribution of these Funds is a continuation of the foundation’s distribution of more than $2.5 million received from the Ohio Public Health Priorities Trust Fund created out of the national tobacco settlement.  The grants are to be applied toward improving the quality of life for those who may have been negatively affected by tobacco products. Hospitals will offer pulmonary patients services that teach breathing techniques, proper nutrition, modified exercise and transportation to get patients to their regular appointments and exercise activities.

 

“This funding is providing hope to patients with severe respiratory disease who lack the resources but have much desire to improve the quality of their lives.  Hospital staffs continue to determine the individual health needs of each patient and involve their families whenever possible in support of on-going activity exercise and proper nutrition,” said Lynne Ayres, director of the foundation.

 

The health care institutions awarded first-time grants are as follows:

  • EMH Regional Healthcare System, $15,000
  • Genesis HealthCare System, $15,000
  • Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton, $15,000
  • Hocking Valley Community Hospital, $15,000
  • Mercy Franciscan-Mt. Airy in Cincinnati, $15,000
  • Mercy Medical Center in Canton, $15,000
  • Southern Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth, $15,000
  • St. Rita’s Medical Center, $15,000
  • University Hospital of Cleveland, $13,121

 

These institutions are receiving renewal grants:

  • Akron General Medical Center, $15,000
  • Bethesda North Hospital, $15,000
  • Drake Center, Inc. in Cincinnati, $15,000
  • East Liverpool City Hospital, $14,040
  • Kettering Medical Center, $15,000
  • Lake Hospital System in Painesville, $15,000
  • Marietta Memorial Health Foundation, $15,000
  • Mercy Hospital Willard, $13,943
  • Mount Carmel Foundation, $15,000
  • Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna, $15,000
  • Southeastern Ohio Regional Medical Center in Cambridge, $15,000
  • Union Hospital Association in Dover, $15,000
  • Upper Valley Medical Center in Troy, $15,000
  • Wood County Hospital in Bowling Green, $14,577

 

The Foundation for Healthy Communities was created and endowed by Ohio hospitals in 1994 to promote creative collaboration for better health. It encourages hospitals and health systems to move beyond traditional roles of healing illness and injury and develop promising methods for promoting healthy lifestyles.

 

The Foundation is sponsored by the Ohio Hospital Association, which represents more than 170 hospitals and 40 health systems with more than 200,000 employees throughout Ohio. OHA’s mission is to provide leadership. OHA works with its members in meeting the health care needs and improving health status of the communities they serve. Learn more about OHA and the Foundation for Healthy Communities at www.ohanet.org.

 

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