St. FrancisHealthy Village concept addresses whole-person health

Imagine for a moment a hospital that takes care of not just the medical problems of community members, but also the social factors that influence their lives and their health.

That’s the idea behind The Healthy Village® at Saint Francis Hospital, which launched last fall. This program is taking the first steps toward bringing needed social services to our community.

A new kind of health care

The Healthy Village is a new health care model. It brings health care services and social services together under one roof. It is a way to invest in social determinants of health, such as food security, education, job security, housing and day care.

“When someone comes into the emergency room, we do a great job of treating them clinically,” says Lillian J. Schonewolf, vice president of Community Health & Well Being at Saint Francis Hospital, and executive director of The Healthy Village at Saint Francis Hospital. “But we may take care of only 20% of that person. We want to take care of the whole person.”

For example, the other 80% of what a person might be dealing with, in addition to their immediate health need, could include food insecurity, violence or a need for higher education. “It’s all those areas that affect a person’s ability to live happily,” Schonewolf says.

The Healthy Village at Saint Francis Hospital will help address these main areas:

  • Behavioral and mental health
  • Jobs
  • Education
  • Senior services
  • Housing

Partnerships for a healthier community

To be clear, Saint Francis Hospital is not closing.

“We have had questions about that,” Schonewolf says. “This is enhancing the services that we already provide.”

Saint Francis has already formed partnerships with other health care entities. For instance, a wellness recovery team from Merakey now offers addiction recovery and mental health services on the hospital’s campus. And Delaware Hospice provides an eight-bed inpatient unit there as well.

Saint Francis is also working with providers of physical therapy, wound healing, dialysis care and housing assistance. And even more partnerships are in the works.

“Collaboration is important to us on all levels,” Schonewolf says. “We want to collaborate with community members, organizations and governments.”