The Healthplex® Sports Club’s Chester Youth Project was recently named the “Best of the Best” among on-site community programs by Club Industry magazine.

The Chester Youth Project is a free weightlifting program based at Community Hospital for middle and high school students in the Chester-Upland School District. The program is designed to help students get in shape, prepare for upcoming sports seasons, and if interested, learn how to properly compete in weightlifting competitions. The students use a renovated area at Community that is filled with the latest cardiovascular and weight-training equipment.

In addition to the exercise component, students who participate in the program are expected to maintain academic and attendance requirements.

For more information about the Chester Youth Project, contact Maitland or Weible at (610) 328-8874.

CKHS Wellness Center Receives William Penn Foundation Grant

Crozer-Keystone Health System’s Wellness Center was awarded a $1,145,100 grant from the William Penn Foundation to implement a neighborhood-based youth development system. The focus of the initiative is to enhance the quality and duration of out-of-school youth programs within the city of Chester.
The 3-year grant is the result of a 2001 William Penn Foundation grant that developed a community-wide strategic planning process focusing on strengthening and sustaining youth development programs in Chester.
The Wellness Center will serve as the lead organization for the community-wide initiative, and will work to meet the objectives of the grant.

 “Our primary goal is to develop four leadership councils that will help us implement our plan and shape the grant,” says Kate Blackburn, director of the Youth Development Program for the Wellness Center. “The components will include a city-wide youth council of individuals ages 12-22, a community council of adult residents, a youth-serving organizations group, and a key leaders council comprised of members from area business organizations who have the ability to affect policy and leverage resources for youth.”

Aetna Grant Awarded to Support Cultural Competency Training for Physicians

Crozer-Keystone Health System recently received a $25,000 grant from the Aetna U.S. Health Care Foundation to train physicians and their office staff about diversity in the Delaware County area. Specifically, the program will increase the level of culturally competent care through the introduction of specific, relevant, and useful information for providing culturally sensitive health care.

The grant will be used for curriculum development for Crozer-Keystone Health System’s medical residents and physician office staff. Training began in January 2005 and will continue until November of this year. Senior Health Services staff will administer the program and coordinate training sessions.

Financial Assistance for Those Who May Need Help Paying for Care

It is a general policy of the Crozer-Keystone Health System that our hospitals and physicians who are part of the Crozer-Keystone Health Network provide all necessary care to patients without regard to their ability to pay.

The health system has financial advisers who will work with patients and their families to help them determine if they are eligible for free care or for assistance under insurance programs. If they are not eligible for free care, they may be eligible for reduced fees for services provided by the hospital or a physician in our health network. The health system continually evaluates its policies for assisting low-income patients as well as monitor implementation of those policies.

For more information about these services at Crozer-Keystone hospitals, call (610) 490-7900.

Annual Report on Quality Available to the Public

Crozer-Keystone Healthy System recently published its Seventh Annual Report on Quality. The report provides a range of information about the health system’s commitment to continuously monitoring and improving the quality of care we give. Included in the report is information about such initiatives as our framework for accountability to ensure that every patient receives the best possible care; patient safety monitoring and reporting standards; and our Evidence-Based Medicine program to make sure that our physicians are providing the most clinically accepted care for common health conditions.