Members of the leadership team from St. Martin’s Episcopal Church donated $3,000 to the Samaritan Foundations Care Hub fund.
“We were honored that St. Martin’s reached out to us to learn more about how our hospital supports unsheltered patients upon discharge,” said Brandy O’Bannon, executive director of the Lebanon Community Hospital Foundation. “They were excited to learn that the Care Hub provides support to East Linn County residents and patients throughout our region, connecting them to services and addressing risk factors associated with poor health outcomes.”
The Care Hub is composed of a team of social workers, community health workers and home transition nurses who essentially provide continued assistance to discharged patients in need. They might connect individuals to essential services, provide emergency supplies for a safe hospital discharge, provide chronic care management, conduct remote patient monitoring, and coordinate respite and recuperative housing.
The St. Martin’s congregation has supported unsheltered individuals in Lebanon for several years, more particularly by hosting weekly free meals at the church until recently when the work was relocated to The River Center.
Recognizing the medical challenges faced by unsheltered individuals, who often require emergency care at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital, church members sought to deepen their impact. To explore potential partnerships to help address these needs, in December they met with O’Bannon and Anita Earl, a licensed clinical social worker and manager of Samaritan’s Population Health – Care Hub, and decided to contribute financial support.
“We appreciate St. Martin’s Episcopal Church for their compassionate concern for their neighbors and we thank them for their generous donation,” O’Bannon said.
To learn more about Care Hub or to donate to the fund visit, samhealth.org/CareHub.