Good Samaritan Hospital (Baltimore)Assessment



Good Samaritan Hospital (Baltimore)Assessment

Background and Summary

In January 2010, Senator Verna Jones-Rodwell, in collaboration with Bon Secours Baltimore Health System, convened a group of over 100 leading stakeholders to participate in a West Baltimore Health Care Summit focusing on improving health status and access to health care services in the West Baltimore area. One of the outcomes of the Summit was a series of Workgroups including a Primary Care Access Workgroup, which was led by Miguel McInnis, CEO of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Community Health Centers (MACHC). The Workgroup, represented by health center leaders, hospital executives, and community participants, ultimately determined that a comprehensive assessment should be conducted to better understand the health related needs of West Baltimore residents and to assess the capacity and strength of West Baltimore's safety net.

As a result, in May 2011, John Snow Inc. (JSI) a leading public health research and consulting firm, specializing in the dynamics of safety net systems, was hired by MACHC to implement a West Baltimore Primary Care Access Assessment & Strategic Planning Project. The project was funded by Kaiser Permanente under the oversight and administration of MACHC and the Primary Care Access Workgroup, which became the Steering Committee for the project. The goals of the effort were to: (1) identify the most pressing community health needs of the West Baltimore area, (2) assess the overall strength of the primary care safety net, and (3) develop recommendations regarding the realm of possible actions that should be taken to expand access to and strengthen the area's safety net system.

The underlying premise for this project was to explore the steps that the area's public and private safety net providers, in collaboration with other community stakeholders, should take to ensure that the safety net is fully prepared to take advantage of ...