Healthcare providers unite to support Marathon County Start Right program
December 10, 2014
Contact Information:
Tom Weaver
Public and Community Relations Manager
715.393.2566 (office); 715.573.8465 (cell)
Healthcare providers unite to support Marathon County Start Right program
Marathon County’s Start Right program aims to help parents be the best parents they can be by providing prevention focused education and support services during pregnancy and with children from birth to age five.
Start Right was created in 1994 as a public-private partnership and as the result of the support of Aspirus Wausau Hospital and Ministry Saint Clare’s Hospital in Weston, it will continue to offer its Step by Step and First Steps programs to Marathon County families.
Each facility has agreed to provide $25,000 for a total of $50,000 in funding to support a Family Educator for Step by Step, a parenting home visitation service and a Public Health Nurse to provide outreach to families with newborns with First Steps.
“We are grateful for the support of our community hospitals and their continued commitment to healthy families and educated parents in our area,” said Marathon County Health Officer Joan Theurer, RN, MSN.
Start Right tracks more than 40 outcomes related to maternal and child health, home safety, quality of the home environment and school readiness. It provides health teaching, case management, parenting education, resource referral and support for families in Marathon County.
“Start Right is a unique program that offers a comprehensive set of parenting education and support services under one umbrella program,” said Antonina Olszewski, foundation director and community benefit coordinator at Ministry Saint Clare’s. “This program helps meet the needs of new parents in our community and closely aligns with our identified health need to support early childhood development.”
Start Right has also incorporated national standards for comprehensive home visitations programs via the Parents as Teachers Curriculum and meets national Council on Accreditation Standards. Marathon County is one of 28 counties that provide home visitation parent education programs for families with young children.
“This support will continue this valuable program for families in our community,” said Tara Marciniak, community health programs manager, Aspirus Wausau Hospital. “Continuing this program will ensure healthy children that are safe in their homes and experience nurturing relationships with their parents.”
The First Steps program services approximately 350 women prenatally and postpartum via home visits. The Step by Step program serves nearly 250 families each year.
“Start Right contributes to ensuring that every child in Marathon County gets off to a great start, a long-term call to action for our community from the 2013-2015 LIFE in Marathon County Report”, added Theurer.
Additional partners that support Start Right include the United Way of Marathon County, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Foundation, City of Wausau, Marathon County, BA and Esther Greenheck Foundation and the Judd S. Alexander Foundation.
For more information on Start Right programs and services, please contact the Marathon County Health Department at 715.261.1900.
About Ministry Saint Clare’s Hospital:
Ministry Saint Clare’s Hospital is an all-digital provider of quality, compassionate care offering a wide range of primary and specialty services as an anchor of the Weston Regional Medical Center.
In addition to 24-hour emergency-level III trauma and surgical services, Ministry Saint Clare’s was the first hospital in central Wisconsin to become an Accredited Chest Pain Center and features major medical and surgical specialties to meet the needs of central Wisconsin and beyond.
A leader in quality outcomes and patient safety nationally, Ministry Saint Clare’s has been recognized as a Top-100 Hospital by Truven Health Analytics. It is one of the nation’s first all-digital hospitals and has been annually named one of America’s Most Wired Hospitals by Hospitals and Health Network Magazine since opening in 2006.
About Ministry Health Care
Ministry Health Care is an integrated healthcare delivery network serving more than 1.1 million people across Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. Ministry generates nearly $2.2 billion in annual operating revenue with 15 hospitals, 45 clinics, and more than 12,000 associates including 650 physicians and advanced practice clinicians. In 2013 Ministry Health Care joined Ascension Health as the second healthcare ministry in Wisconsin. Ascension is the largest Catholic and not-for-profit healthcare system in the nation. Ministry is ranked among the top 20 percent of healthcare systems in the country according to Truven Health Analytics and five Ministry hospitals are ranked in the top 10 in Medicare’s Hospital Value Based Purchasing (VBP) program in the state. Ministry’s Network Health has again received 4 ½ star recognition by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for its Medicare Advantage plans.
About Ascension Health
Ascension (www.ascension.org) is a faith-based healthcare organization dedicated to transformation through innovation across the continuum of care. As the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system, Ascension is committed to delivering person-centered care to all with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. In FY2014, Ascension provided $1.8 billion in care of persons living in poverty and other community benefit programs. More than 150,000 associates and 35,000 affiliated providers serve in 1,900 sites of care – including 131 hospitals and more than 30 senior care facilities – in 23 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to healthcare delivery, Ascension subsidiaries provide a variety of services and solutions including physician practice management, venture capital investing, treasury management, biomedical engineering, clinical care management, information services, risk management, and contracting through Ascension’s own group purchasing organization.
