St. Joseph Mercy Oakland receives grants to support free clinic, nursing education

St. Joseph Mercy Oakland (SJMO) was recently awarded grants to support its Mercy Place free clinic and provide Continuing Nursing Education (CNE).

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan awarded SJMO a grant of $50,000 to help the hospital’s free clinic provide follow-up to patients at its Mercy Place clinic who have abnormal results from health screenings for such chronic diseases as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.  Mercy Place, a free, outpatient, primary care clinic located in Pontiac, provides comprehensive health care, treatment and prevention for uninsured adults who are unable to pay for these services.

This year, Mercy Place is introducing a grassroots effort to expand community outreach, health screenings, chronic disease education and self-monitoring services through the creation of the Community Health Ambassadors (CHA) program, which will be based at the clinic and enhance care provided at Mercy Place.

Pontiac is a federally designated, medically under-served area based, in part, on the percentage of residents living below the poverty level. The prevalence of chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, depression and obesity, is increasing among Pontiac residents partly as a result of the high rates of unemployment and lack of health insurance. Uninsured patients are less than half as likely to seek care as those who are insured. The CHA program will reach out beyond the physical clinic building and the hospital to engage people who are most at risk for chronic disease in their homes or community settings.

SJMO also received a grant in the amount of $204,280 to purchase an interactive streaming video system to enhance its capacity to provide Continuing Nursing Education.  The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration Equipment to Enhance Training for Health Professionals—Nurse Education, Practice and Retention.

SJMO will use interactive multimedia technology to provide evidence-based CNE programs on a range of important health topics to more than 1,200 nurses at the main hospital, at outpatient sites and partnering hospitals statewide.

SJMO will stream live presentations originating from SJMO in Pontiac, along with presentation materials to SJMO staff nurses both on and off campus, as well as to users at the partner hospitals through a password-protected Internet network.  Nurses unable to attend the presentation will be able to download at a convenient time. Nurse educators will be able to track and test users for CNE credit.

This enhanced opportunity for nursing education will strengthen the nursing workforce as it enhances the capacity for nursing education and practice and ultimately improves care for patients in Michigan.  Many rural hospital partners are in areas where there is a shortage of nurses and lack of opportunities for continuing nursing education.

Programming will include presentations on Cardiology, Trauma, Pain Management, Oncology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Spanish for Health Care Workers, Professional Nursing Development and more.

The grant is supported with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (stimulus) funds.

SMJO is an accredited provider of continuing nursing education by the Wisconsin Nurses Association Continuing Education Approval Program Committee, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.