MetroHealth Partners with Health Assurance Foundation

The MetroHealth System is partnering with the brand-new Health Assurance Foundation to reshape and advance the future of healthcare delivery, beginning with development and expansion of best practice standards for Community Health Workers (CHWs).

As trusted members of their communities, CHWs improve cultural competence and quality of service delivery through coordinating care with healthcare providers, improving access to community-based services, addressing the social drivers of health and providing health education.

The $434,400 grant from Health Assurance Foundation will support the CHW program at MetroHealth's Institute for H.O.P.E.™ as it works to:

• Integrate CHWs within the primary care team to enhance health equity
• Identify payment models for long-term CHW sustainability
• Collaborate across the state on policy and advocacy to support CHW workforce growth and development.

This initial collaboration between MetroHealth and HAF funds one year of work, with potential to continue into future years.

"MetroHealth's community health worker program has already led to some tremendous benefits to patients and community members, including increased prenatal and well-child visits, better-controlled diabetes and hypertension, and improved access to primary care and ancillary services," said Nabil Chehade, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Transformation Officer at MetroHealth. "We are grateful for Health Assurance Foundation's shared vision to grow this impactful model of care and their investment in MetroHealth to help build a more proactive, affordable and equitable system for healthcare."

Through the Institute for H.O.P.E., MetroHealth CHWs have also played a pivotal role in screening adult patients for social drivers of health.

"Community health workers are quickly becoming integral in healthcare organizations," said Srinivas Merugu, MD, President, Institute for H.O.P.E. "They are highly relational, culturally competent and help form strong connections with patients. They may make appointments, deliver meals, and have conversations with patients in ways that aren't always accessible in traditional care. Thanks to the Health Assurance Foundation, we will be better able to work with community stakeholders and our teams to expand these roles further."

Rhonda Bray, executive director of Health Assurance Foundation, emphasized the critical need for this initiative: "In a time when the U.S. healthcare system is so broken, it often leaves our most vulnerable populations behind. The Health Assurance Foundation will help alleviate some of these issues and make important strides in promoting more access to healthcare. Starting with MetroHealth is a valuable opportunity to build on the health system's extensive research into the impact of social drivers of health, and we hope this investment can create a roadmap and scalable model for further community health efforts."

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