North Side Patients to Benefit From Grant Award

A new grant awarded to Lincoln Square's Swedish Covenant Hospital is helping improve the quality of care for north side residents by enabling them to avoid costly and unecessary readmissions.

The grant, awarded by the G. A. Ackermann Memorial Fund, will expand a care transition program which provides home health care for chronically ill patients who would otherwise not be able to access it.

The care transition program at Swedish Covenant Hospital provides patients with home health services and sophisticated telehealth monitoring to provide comprehensive care after they leave the hospital. This helps patients accurately manage their health, and it lowers the number of hospital readmissions that occur due to complications.

“Our program fills a gap in the current system of care because it specifically targets high risk patients who are either uninsured or do not meet the strict federal eligibility criteria to receive home health services,” said Kathryn Donofrio, Swedish Covenant Hospital associate vice president and nursing director. “Without these crucial services, these patients would fall through the cracks of the health care system and remain at higher risk of complications, dramatically impacting their quality of life while contributing a large portion to the soaring level of health care expenditures in the U.S.”

In the first 10 months of 2013, Swedish Covenant Hospital's care transition program helped more than 1,800 patients get the medical care and monitoring they need. The new $175,000 grant from the G. A. Ackermann Memorial Fund, combined with other grant funding, is expected to expand the program by incorporating a nutrition screening and other improvements, helping underserved patients get effective and appropriate treatment and care.