Like any industry, there’s a certain level of competition in the medical field, but health care providers are united in a common goal. “When you look at community health and well-being, we’re not competitors,” says Christopher Nolan, director of community benefit and anchor initiatives at BJC HealthCare. “We’re all working together on this.”
This spring, St. Louis hospital systems—including BJC HealthCare, Mercy, Shriner’s Children’s, SSM Health, and St. Luke’s—circulated the Community Health Needs Assessment to area residents. Working with community stakeholders and public-health experts, the groups developed the survey, which asked questions about available resources; top health, mental health, and substance use problems; and existing barriers to health care, as well as questions about demographics and socioeconomic factors. Each hospital system will complete a report, documenting their own communities’ needs and an implementation plan, to be published between December 2024 and December 2025.
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St. Louis hospital systems are also addressing community concerns in other ways, including investment in local businesses, donations, volunteering, and more. SSM Health, for example, has launched a food-insecurity program through a partnership with the St. Louis Area Foodbank. Students at SLU School of Medicine volunteer at Casa de Salud, which provides care for immigrants and refugees.
BJC HealthCare and WashU are bolstering support for their own teams as well. The organizations recently expanded the Live Near Your Work program, which issues forgivable home loans to help a limited number of eligible employees purchase homes. Historically, the program has helped employees buy homes near the BJC and WashU campuses, but it now includes a wider area in the city, North County, and University City’s 3rd Ward. The loan amount also recently increased. “The entire goal of the expansion was investing in our communities and creating better access,” says Nolan. “And that’s exactly what it’s done.”
