KANSAS CITY, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Kansas Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer and UnitedHealthcare, along with more than 100 local residents gathered at the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County’s (CHC) headquarters yesterday to celebrate a major milestone. Since August 2016, more than 1,000 Wyandotte County patients who are uninsured or underinsured have received enhanced, personalized care from CHC community health workers. Funding for the community health workers was made possible through a three-year, $1.9 million partnership with United Health Foundation.
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Kevin Sparks, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kansas (left), listens to Kansas Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer speak to more than 100 local residents at the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County headquarters during a ceremony yesterday to honor local community health workers. Since August 2016, more than 1,000 Wyandotte County patients who are uninsured or underinsured received enhanced, personalized care from CHC community health workers through a three-year, $1.9 million partnership with United Health Foundation (Photo: Garrett Kasper).
The celebration gave patients and their families the opportunity to honor the community health care workers and learn more about the services provided through this partnership.
During the first year of the partnership, the CHC funded seven community health workers who engaged directly with underserved patients and helped people with multiple chronic conditions in the Kansas City, Kan., region. The CHC and Kansas City CARE Clinic trained and managed the workers to provide one-on-one services that improved coordination of local, culturally conscious primary care for hundreds of lower-income residents in Wyandotte County each month.
The CHC’s community health workers serve as “accountability partners” for their patients by scheduling doctor appointments, finding affordable health care services and medications, and ensuring their patients understand their diagnosis and treatment plan. They also help with overcoming challenges such as language barriers and securing resources such as food and housing.
"This partnership provides an opportunity for us to work together to help more families achieve independence in health. These community health workers have already improved the lives of 1,000 Wyandotte County residents - and counting - and are on the front lines every day of helping more Kansas families live healthier lives," said Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, M.D.
“UnitedHealthcare is honored to support the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County in helping more Kansans connect with quality care and build a healthier Kansas,” said Kevin Sparks, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kansas.
“Our partnership with UnitedHealthcare has enabled us to bring community health workers to Wyandotte County and opened the collective imagination about the future of health care in Kansas City,” said Jerry Jones, CHC executive director. “What CHC and UnitedHealthcare have built together with this initiative is just the beginning of a period of collaboration and innovation to improve the health and well-being of the people we serve.”
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare
is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by
simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and
wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care
providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit
programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees
and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and
contracts directly with 1 million physicians and care professionals, and
6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare
is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a
diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more
information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com
or follow @myUHC on Twitter.
About Community Health Council of Wyandotte
County
The mission of the Community Health Council of
Wyandotte County, Inc. (CHC) is to improve health and health care in
Wyandotte County by bringing a community perspective and identifying
resources for collaboration, planning and implementation of effective
community initiatives. The CHC, formed in 2002, is a not-for-profit,
public/private collaborative, which exists to improve access to
healthcare for the uninsured and the underinsured, to enhance health
maintenance and prevention of health problems, and to facilitate
coordination of community health services and health education
initiatives.
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