February 5, 2007

SIU Med School and ICHCF Announce Partnership

Funding for a new rural health project to create a countywide health partnership to better serve the health needs of Pike County is being provided by Southern Illinois University School of Medicine (SIU).  The project is another in a series of the School’s Rural Health Initiatives (RHI) partnerships.

The grant of $26,026 to the Illini Community Health Care Foundation (ICHCF) is helping fund the start up of a new group – the Pike County Community Health Partnership (PCCHP).  Grant funds from SIU will support the salary for a partnership director and that search is underway. 

The PCCHP is a unique partnership which has been driven by the growing health needs of Pike County’s underserved and at-risk populations; diminishing state and federal funding resources; and a spirit of collaboration from all of Pike County’s health organizations toward addressing these concerns.  It has been developed as a result of a community health assessment process called IPLAN (Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Need) conducted by the Pike County Health Department that began two years ago.      

“We are deeply appreciative of the grant as well as the guidance provided by SIU, which also has played a primary role in the partnership’s development.  This grant enables the partnership, which has already shown unparalleled cooperation, to focus on finding solutions to the myriad of health issues facing Pike County’s citizens by working with a collaborative mindset,” said Patricia McIntosh, executive director of ICHCF.

Organizations making up the partnership steering committee are ICHCF, Illini Community Hospital, Pike County Health Department, Mental Health Centers of Western Illinois (formerly Pike County Counseling Center) and University of Illinois Extension in Pike County.

ICHCF serves as the fiscal sponsor to the new partnership group providing fiscal oversight and guidance.  McIntosh said the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs and the Logan County Healthy Communities Partnership also were integral in helping to establish the PCCHP. 

“The cooperation and collaboration brought about by the Pike County Community Health Partnership opens up major opportunities for health and wellness improvement for those served in Pike County.  Illini Community Hospital is proud to be a part of the partnership and the projects it will undertake,” said Connie Schroeder, president and CEO, Illini Community Hospital.

“SIU is proud to support the Pike County Health Partnership because it brings improved health services to the residents of Pike County,” said John Record, assistant dean for rural and alumni affairs at SIU, who coordinates the School’s RHI program.

SIU School of Medicine continues its efforts to work with downstate physicians, hospitals and health care agencies to assess health care needs of the region.  Additional support for the School's on-going efforts to improve health care in the region has come from the Illinois Legislature through the Rural/Downstate Health Act, which began in 1994.  Its goal is to improve health care in the rural and medically underserved areas of the state and is funded with a state supported budget.  Nearly 90 RHI partnerships have been developed by SIU.

Illini Community Health Care Foundation is a 501 c(3) not-for-profit corporation whose health care mission is realized through a program of grantmaking and fund development.  ICHCF directs its funding focus in three strategic areas: improving lives through better health care, enriching lives through healthier communities, and empowering lives through better health education.

For more information about the Pike County Community Health Partnership, call Patricia McIntosh at 217-285-6080

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