These projects were designed by employees to help them better serve their patients. They are the centerpiece of this year’s employee campaign, and the community is encouraged to help as well by joining the MHP Foundation Builder Program which is powered by Just Giving.

Transfer Lift for Wound Care Center Patients: Increases safety for both staff and patients and increases the ability of the staff to provide optimal would care.

Reach Out and Read at MHP Pediatrics: Reach Out and Read is an evidence based program designed to engage parents and strengthen the parent-child bond through helping children develop a love of reading. This engagement has been shown to improve language, social, and emotional development in children. In 2017, Shelby County had a 5.9% kindergarten retention rate, which is higher than the state average of 4.4%. Also, according to data collected by MHP Pediatrics, 84% of MHP Pediatrics patients did not meet their developmental milestones at age 2. MHP Pediatrics’ goal is to intervene at a very early age to improve the social and emotional development of preschool aged children so they are ready and eager to learn in kindergarten.

This is a repeat project for 2021 since funds were depleted during 2020. However, in order to make an impact, Reach Out and Read must be in place for a number of years, and in light of financial losses for MHP brought about by COVID-19, the Foundation elected to fund it again during 2021.

SPF at MHP Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery: Skin cancer patients will receive a sample SPF to take home from their appointments, increasing the impact of the education moment during each visit about the importance of sunscreen in preventing additional cancerous lesions.

Upgrading the Maternity Care Department from a Safe Sleep Leader to a Safe Sleep Champion: The only thing preventing the Champion designation is that MHP does not provide a cribette to families whose newborn does not have a safe place to sleep. The “upgrade” will allow thirty-five cribettes to be purchased and distributed for at risk infants.

Diabetes Monitoring Supplies for Patients in the Disease Management Clinic: This will allow access for diabetes patients to a glucose meter, testing strips, and needles. Some patients do not have the means or insurance to purchase these items, placing them at risk for unstable and/or unmanaged blood sugar, which leads to other health issues and even hospitalization. This will be a small investment for the Foundation considering the potential to help patients stay out of the hospital and keep their health from deteriorating.

Scales for Heart Failure Patients: Weight gain is one of the first signs that a heart failure patient needs to reach out for medical assistance before ending up in the hospital, yet many patients are unable to afford the scale that they need. Having a scale will help prevent the patient from deteriorating to the point of needing to be admitted.