To support our ongoing mission to provide quality care, personalized service and education to improve community health, Atlantic General Hospital offers a broad range of services, called community benefits*, above and beyond the healthcare for which AGH is reimbursed.
We recognize the value of prevention and outreach and strive to touch as many people in Worcester County and the surrounding area as possible.
As a not-for-profit institution, Atlantic General Hospital is here because of you and for you.
Highlighted below are just a few of the services that we provide to the community at little or no cost to the individual. For more complete information regarding Atlantic General Hospital’s community benefits, please click here to read the Fall 2011 issue of our OnCall newsletter.
Annual Health Conference
Atlantic General Hospital conducts an annual “Visions for Total Health” conference for Worcester County residents and visitors. AGH began the conference in 1999 to meet the serious need for continuing health education in the county, which has higher rates of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and cancers of all types than the national average.
In recent years, the conference, which began strictly as a women’s health conference, has reached upwards of 500 to 1000 attendees.
Influenza Vaccine Clinics
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Atlantic General Hospital provides free flu clinics to area residents each year during flu season, which ranges from October through March. Influenza can be devastating, |
contributing to the hospitalization of more than 200,000 Americans annually. Each year, 36,000 people die from the virus in this country.
During the 2011-2012 flu season, Atlantic General Hospital and Health System provided over $90,000-worth of vaccine to more than 43,000 individuals during our free flu clinics to reduce the spread of the virus in our community.
School Tours
Atlantic
General
Hospital hosts tours for more than 400 students in kindergarten and pre-k classes from seven of the community’s elementary schools. These tours stress the importance of hand hygiene and other preventive health measures. Perhaps more importantly, they show children that the hospital is not scary, but a healing place where they or their loved ones may come to get well.
Hypertension Clinics
Atlantic General offers free blood pressure checks and information on hypertension at pharmacies throughout the area each month.
Through these, we have approximately 350 to 400 encounters with the community each year.
The clinics are an |
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excellent resource for the community. Individuals are often referred to their physicians as a result of the screenings, and some physicians request that their patients come to the clinics to monitor their blood pressure between office visits.
Community Benefits Defined
As defined under current law, a community benefit is an activity that addresses community needs and priorities mainly through disease prevention and improvement of health. These activities include
• Health services provided to vulnerable or under-served populations;
• Financial or in-kind support of public health programs;
• Donation of funds, property, or other resources for a community health effort;
• Healthcare cost containment activities; and
• Health education, screening, and prevention services.
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