Community Benefit
These Efforts Aim to Help Polk County Live Well
As a not-for-profit community, critical-access hospital, Polk Medical Center regularly assesses the health of our community and looks for opportunities to improve it.
We align our Community Benefit activities with our needs assessment to strategically develop programs that aim to make a difference in these categories. Polk’s outreach efforts in the community in 2017 touched more than 41,000 people through educational programs and screenings, support at community events and school-based programs. Polk co-workers and volunteers contributed 232 hours to community endeavors at an expense of $38,083.
Access to the Care Area Residents Need Starts at Polk In Georgia, indigent care is the care provided to individuals who live in a family whose combined income falls below 125 percent of the federal poverty level for a family of a specific size. In 2017, a family of four with a total annual family income of less than $30,375 was eligible for indigent care. Patients who qualify as indigent receive their hospital services at no cost to them. Medical Center discounts hospital charges on a sliding scale for patients whose combined family income falls between 125 percent and 325 percent of the federal poverty level for uninsured families of a specific size. An insured family of four with a total annual family income of $35,450 is eligible for a discount of 80 percent As part of the Floyd health system, Polk Medical Center is integral to Floyd’s efforts to emphasize an integrated community of health care, social service and community leadership. The entire Floyd organization is seeking to leverage community assets to improve the health of residents in Polk, Floyd and Chattooga counties. As a critical-access hospital, Polk Medical Center annually provides more than $1 million in free medical services to uninsured and underinsured patients. Polk offers emergency care, subacute rehabilitation, inpatient nursing, imaging, cardiac rehabilitation and many other services, all backed by the comprehensive resources of the Floyd health system. Charity care is the medical care provided to low-income patients at a discounted rate. Polk
Corporate Health and School Nurse Programs Provide Care Where Families Learn and Work When a student in a Polk County school needs a health check, help managing a disease or is injured on the playground, a Floyd school nurse is there. Floyd manages the school nurse program in Polk County, which includes 10 nurses reaching nearly 7,000 students. Floyd has placed athletic trainers in both Cedartown High School and Rockmart High School, providing care on the sidelines and in schools to athletes in every competitive sport offered. These on-campus caregivers have access to Polk Medical Center, Floyd Urgent Care centers in Cedartown and Rockmart, Floyd Primary Care physicians in Polk County and all the services available at Floyd Medical Center in Rome. In addition to the students who are covered by the 10 school nurses provided in every Polk County school, Polk provides health and safety training programs and career day speakers to students throughout the area. In 2017, 4,385 students benefitted from school-based education programs, and 126 student athletes received free sports physicals. Finally, approximately 3,100 employees of Polk County businesses and industries benefit from the work of Floyd Corporate Health, which works closely with Polk Medical Center’s Live Well Polk! initiative to improve the health and quality of life of workers, while helping industries to improve safety and reduce productivity loss due to work injury or stress.
9
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online