Cover the Uninsured Week, Hospital Week offer opportunities to connect with community

April and May offer two great opportunities for hospitals to highlight the good work they do and reach out to their communities.

Cover the Uninsured Week

Cover the Uninsured Week is April 27- May 3. Led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundat ion, this annual event is designed to raise awareness about the 47 million A me r i c a n s without health insurance and help those who are eligible to enroll in low-cost or free health c o v e r a g e p r o g r a m s . This problem is particularly acute in Texas, where one in four Texans lacks health care coverage. Though the problem is well documented, legislators are looking for solutions. Use this opportunity to highlight the crisis in your community and engage local business leaders and elected officials in the dialogue.

Hospitals planning to participate in Cover the Uninsured Week can visit the campaign’s online Event Planning Center at www.plan. covertheuninsured.org to register and take advantage of free resources. Participants can order materials to promote their events, or download fact sheets to help educate community leaders about the uninsured. The Texas Hospital Association also has background materials on the uninsured crisis available at www.gettexascovered. com.

National Hospital Week

National Hospital Week is May 11-17. The event’s theme, “Where Healing Happens Every Day,” is the centerpiece of a campaign that spotlights the exceptional relationship between hospitals and the communities they serve.

Keeping health care in a positive light is part of the tradition of National Hospital Week, a celebration that dates back to 1921. That year, a magazine editor in Chicago suggested an annual “open house” where a skeptical public could have see firsthand the important work performed inside hospitals. The idea spread across the country and helped change the perception about hospitals from places of illness to places of healing. Today, National Hospital Week is the nation’s largest health care celebration.

We’ve come a long way from the days when hospitals were shrouded in mystery, but many hospitals still use the occasion to host open houses or health fairs. H o s p i t a l Week also is a great time for employee r e c o g ni t io n e v e n t s . To access N a t i o n a l Hospital Week materials or to download a catalogue and planning guide, go to ht t p: //www. imprintmall. com/hospitalweek/history1.html.

Kudos to Karen Sexton

I recently returned from the American Hospital Association’s Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, D.C., where AHA and THA recognized Karen H. Sexton, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the University of Texas Medical Branch Health System at Galveston, with the annual Partnership for Action Grassroots Champion Award.

The award was created to recognize those hospital leaders who most effectively educate elected officials on how major issues affect the hospital’s vital role in the community, who have done an exemplary job in broadening the base of community support for the hospital, and are tireless advocates for the hospitals and their patients. Karen is a dedicated, effective advocate for UTMB and an articulate spokesperson on hospital issues. THA was proud to nominate her for this prestigious award, and I congratulate her on this well-deserved honor.