Ellis Hospital

“Line 11a explanation - a copy of the ellis hospital's 990 was prepared and submitted for review to the chief financial officer. After cfo review was completed, the form 990 including all required schedules, as ultimately filed with the irs, was given to each voting member of ellis' board of trustees for review. After review by the board of trustees, and upon the recommendation of the audit committee, approval is given for filing the return with the irs.”

“Ellis hospital's conflict of interest policy applies to all hospital trustees, officers, employees, medical/dental staff members, directors, managers, appointees with administrative and/or decision-making responsibilities, volunteers or any of these parties' immediate families (collectively called hospital agents). The ellis hospital corporate bylaws require hospital agents and other selected individuals as identified by the vice president, human resources and the corporate compliance officer/director of internal audit (cco), to file a conflict of interest disclosure statement with the hospital on a annual basis. When the statements are completed they are returned to the cco. Upon receipt, the cco will review the disclosure and, if a potential conflict is disclosed, will meet with the hospital agent and/or his/her appropriate supervisor to discuss the disclosure and need for action if any. All statements for trustees are also reviewed by the cco, and if a potential conflict has been disclosed, he/she will meet with the board chairperson to discuss the disclosure and need for action, if any. All potential conflicts involving the board of trustees will be summarized by the cco and reported to the audit committee of the board. This committee will then share this information with the board chairperson. When a potential or actual conflict exists, an interested person may make a presentation to the board or at a committee meeting, but after such presentation, he/she shall leave the meeting during the discussion of, and the vote upon, the transaction or arrangement that could constitute the conflict of interest. The board or committee members shall determine by a majority vote whether the transaction or arrangement is in the hospital's best interest.”

“The current executive compensation plan is in full compliance with all existing rules and regulations applicable to a 501(c) corporation. The following is a summary of each plan: executive compensation plan-the president, and all other senior executivies are governed by our executive compensation program established by the board of trustees. The executive compensation plan is administered also by the executive compensation committee under the direction of the board of trustees. All payments from this program are based on audited results and reviewed by the board of trustees prior to any payments being made. The review of the compensation agreements and gathering of comparability data in determining the reasonableness of compensation follow the procedures described in treasury regulation section 53.4958-6.”

“Corporate compliance policies (including conflicts of interest policy) and audited financial statements are available to the general public via posting on the ellis hospital website: www.ellismedicine.org. In addition, these documents and governing documents are available to the public upon request.”

“Schenectady county was directly served by one new york state-designated dsrip performing provider system (pps), the alliance for better health (afbh), and is adjacent to the service area of the albany medical center pps. Schenectady county population 160,093 (2022) persons per square mile 772.6 (2020) persons under 18 years 21.1% (2022) persons 65 years and over 18.1% (2022) white alone (not hispanic or latino) 75.3% (2022) hispanic or latino 8.0% (2022) black or african american alone 13.9% (2020) bachelor's degree or + (age 25+) 33.3% (2017-21) median value, owner-occupied housing $178,000 (2017-21) median household income $69,891(2017-21) persons in poverty 12.9% (2022) city of schenectady population 68,809 (2022) persons per square mile 6,212.7 (2020) persons under 18 years 20.1% (2022) persons 65 years and over 14.2% (2022) white alone (not hispanic or latino) 55.6% (2022) hispanic or latino 11.8% (2022) black or african american alone 18.7% (2022) bachelor's degree or + (age 25+) 22.8% (2017-21) median value, owner-occupied housing $118,300 (2017-21) median household income $50,237 (2017-21) persons in poverty 21.3% (2022) new york state population 19,677,151 (2022) persons per square mile 428.7 (2020) persons under 18 years 20.3% (2022) persons 65 years and over 18.1% (2022) white alone (not hispanic or latino) 68.6% (2022) hispanic or latino 19.7% (2022) black or african american alone 17.7% (2022) bachelor's degree or + (age 25+) 38.1% (2017-21) median value, owner-occupied housing $340,600 (2017-21) median household income $75,157 (2017-21) persons in poverty 13.9% (2022) figure 1: schenectady county, city, and state demographics (source: us census bureau, state and county quickfacts, as accessed july 20, 2023) residents of the city of schenectady are generally less affluent and less healthy than residents of the surrounding towns, while residents of the county as a whole are less affluent than the state as a whole; however the county's poverty rate is below that of the state (see figure 1). For example, the median household income for the city is only about two-thirds that of the county as a whole which, in turn, is below that of the state. The poverty rate in the city is nearly 85% higher than that of the county as a whole. Figure 2: schenectady county insurance, provider, and diagnosis information (source: hcd, 2023 community health profile) schenectady county adults 18-64 with health insurance (2021) 94.6% adults with regular health care provider (age-adjusted, 2021) 87% adults who visited dentist w/in 1 year (age-adjusted, 2018) 75.5% new york state adults 18-64 with health insurance (2021) 92.6% adults with regular health care provider (age-adjusted, 2021) 85% adults who visited dentist w/in 1 year (age-adjusted, 2018) 69.6% schenectady county and state health insurance and health access measures source: hcd, 2022 capital region community health needs assessment state health department data (2016-2019) show that hospitalizations for conditions which could have been treated in the community ("prevention quality indicators") range as high as 205% of the expected rate in certain city neighborhoods, but are as low as 60% of the expected rate in the rural towns. In one dramatic disparity confirmed by more recent (2016-2019) sparcs hospital discharge data, emergency department visits for asthma range from 143.2 /10,000 in the city's hamilton hill neighborhood (12307) to 24.2 /10,000 in the nearby suburb of niskayuna (12309). A significant minority population in the city of schenectady is comprised of guyanese of west indian descent. The result of secondary migration from new york city promoted by a previous mayor along with primary migration from guyana, the influx is credited with reversing years of population decline in the city. Schenectady county public health services led multiple initiatives to identify and address health disparities relating to the west indian population. Research conducted by physicians at el”

“Ellis hospital (d/b/a ellis medicine), the sole provider of acute hospital care in schenectady county, is a voluntary, not-for-profit, community and teaching hospital with more than 400 licensed beds between two inpatient campuses (ellis hospital and bellevue woman's center), including 52 inpatient mental health beds (see item 4b below). Ellis also operates several primary care and outpatient sites, including two outpatient campuses (mcclellan street health center in the city of schenectady and medical center of clifton park in southern saratoga county) and an outpatient mental health facility (state street health center). Health care services are provided under a single corporate taxpayer identification number (tin) and a single operating certificate issued by the new york state department of health, the hospital's primary regulator. The hospital is overseen by a volunteer board of trustees drawn from the community and the medical staff, including three physician trustees. With the mission to "meet the health and wellness needs of our community with excellence," ellis balances state-of-the-art technology and advanced medical procedures with a 137-year tradition of community-based caring and a firm commitment to quality. Ellis counted 9,365 medical/surgical inpatient discharges from the ellis hospital (nott street) inpatient facility, performed 5,536 ambulatory (outpatient) procedures, and handled 190,131 "referred ambulatory visits" (e.g., laboratory tests, medical imaging) at all locations during 2022. In 2022, ellis provided $4,732,991 in financial assistance (charity care) on a "charge" basis, translating to a "cost" basis of $1,685,709. Ellis has earned numerous recognitions for clinical excellence and community service. In recent years, the ellis hospital emergency department achieved certification as a certified autism center, the first hospital emergency department in the nation to earn that designation granted by the international board of credentialing and continuing education standards (ibcces). Ellis was a new york state designated stroke center, and was the first hospital in new york state to receive the american stroke association's (asa) performance achievement award for stroke. The ellis stroke center has been a recipient of the gold/gold plus award, recognized for using the asa's "get with the guidelines" program for improving the quality of care and patient outcomes. The hospital's bariatric program was an accredited bariatric surgery center by the metabolic and bariatric surgery accreditation and quality improvement program (mbsaqip) of the american college of surgeons and the american society of metabolic and bariatric surgery. Additionally, the sleep disorders center was accredited by the american academy of sleep medicine; the belanger school of nursing was accredited by the national league for nursing accrediting commission; the family medicine residency was accredited by both the accreditation council for graduate medical education and the american osteopathic association; ellis primary care practices have achieved national commission on quality assurance (ncqa) "patient-centered medical home" (pcmh) recognition; and certain primary care practices participated in the federal cms "cpc+" quality program. Ellis has been recognized by the american heart association (aha) as a "fit-friendly worksite and received the aha's "innovation award" for presenting a unique program of health and wellness to employees. Ellis has been awarded blue distinction center designation by blue cross blue shield for cardiac care, bariatric care, knee and hip replacement, and maternity care. Ellis was also a partners in performance excellence gold baldrige award winner, recognized for its dedication and work to create a culture and systems where innovation and performance excellence become the accepted norm. Ellis has also been honored with the five rings award by intellicentrics, inc. For excellence in vendor credentialing and c”

“Ellis serves the community by addressing identified health care priorities; including access to care, and prevention and treatment of chronic diseases; through a variety of programs. Identification of needs includes such mechanisms as the federally required community health needs assessment with its implementation strategy (see schedule h) and the state-mandated triennial community service plan. These plans are built collaboratively through regional and community partnerships. On a regional basis, ellis is a member of the healthy capital district initiative (hcdi) a state-funded health data collection and planning entity which brings together the county public health departments, not-for-profit hospitals, fqhcs, and not-for-profit insurers in the six-county capital region. In 2013, 2016, and 2019, and 2021, hcdi conducted regional information-gathering exercises to provide the basis for the community health needs assessments (chna) of its member not-for-profit hospitals. These are available here http://www.ellismedicine.org/pages/community-report.aspx and they are further described in schedule h. On a community collaboration basis, ellis partners with schenectady county public health services (scphs), including joint grant applications and joint new york state department of health needs assessments. This includes the schenectady county strategic alliance for health (sah), a county-led, federally-designated and federally-funded collaborative focused on preventing chronic disease and promoting community health. Ellis also provides co-leadership, meeting space, and resources for the schenectady coalition for a healthy community (schc), a community collaborative of about 60 healthcare providers, community-based organizations, and local government agencies. Schc typically meets quarterly to discuss community health needs and to monitor progress on ellis' implementation strategy. During 2022, all schc meetings were held via teleconference.”

“Ellis operates a 52-bed inpatient mental health unit, along with dedicated outpatient mental health services. This is the only inpatient mental health facility in schenectady county and is one of only two inpatient units in a 16-county region providing services to adolescents. Ellis' mental health services include inpatient care for adults and adolescents; outpatient child, adolescent, and adult mental health services; crisis intervention, including a 24-hour crisis information hotline; a peer advocacy program; and a support and education group for people with major disorders and their families. The "living room," a mental health crisis diversion program operated from the state street health center, provides patients with an alternative to the emergency room. Ellis has received a grant from the schenectady county drug court to provide enhanced mental health services to low-level offenders referred by the judicial system, and a contract with the schenectady county correctional facility to provide post-incarceration support services, both including peer services. The ellis state street health center, which houses the outpatient mental health clinic and a personalized recovery oriented services (pros) service, was opened in 2017. This not only increased the size and improved the quality of facilities for adult outpatient mental health; it also has become part of an informal "medical village," with the mental health facility, a federally qualified health center (fqhc), another large community primary care clinic, and a pharmacy all located within one city block. In 2022, the ellis mental health programs had 692 inpatient discharges and 35,687 outpatient visits.”

“The ellis residential and rehabilitation center (errc), an 82-bed long-term skilled nursing facility (snf) and short-stay rehabilitation facility, has been providing long term nursing care since 1989 and short stay rehabilitation services since 2001. Specializing in medically complex cases, errc operates from its renovated facility on the ellis mcclellan street health center campus. The facility provides residents with private rooms and such amenities as a cyber-center, a hair salon, and a roof-top garden. Resident days for 2022 were 25,500.”

“Change in interest in foundation -3,297,229. Pension and postretirement related changes -4,517,575. Yankee alliance tax income -364,508. Alliance for better health care -242. Visiting nurse service association of schenectady -375,023. Income tax benefit 17,290. Other components of net periodic benefit cost -2,606,472. Healthy alliance ipa 728,547.”

“The process has not changed from the prior year.”

“3. Engagement of community organizations and consumers through written comments received on 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2022 chnas and implementation strategies: as required, ellis hospital posted the 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2022 chnas and implementation strategies on its public website. (see http://www.ellismedicine.org/pages/community-report.aspx). In addition, the implementation strategies were included in the irs forms 990 schedule h and also posted on the hospital's website. Ellis hospital solicited public comment via a "contact us" form on its website (https://www.ellismedicine.org/pages/contact.aspx), through its facebook presence (https://www.facebook.com/ellismedicineny) and on twitter (https://twitter.com/ellismedicine) with all accounts actively monitored by staff from the communications and marketing office. The hospital also solicited public comments through the regular meetings of the schenectady coalition for a healthy community (schc). No written comments were received regarding the 2013, 2016, and 2022 chnas and implementation strategies. Verbal comments were received, however, during meetings of schc and were used to modify and make mid-course corrections to the overall identification, evaluation, and prioritization of health needs. The most significant comments related to priority modifications so as to be able to take advantage of opportunities which occurred between adoption of the 2013 and 2016 documents. This particularly involved elevation of the priority of food insecurity (initially listed as tier b) as several funding opportunities became available. Greater knowledge of the impact of food insecurity on the overall well-being of individuals and families in schenectady then led to it inclusion as a component in the obesity/diabetes initiative for 2016. Given this experience, the partners undertook a collaborative regional effort to more aggressively encourage written comments on the 2019 regional chna early in its development process. Hcd provided a link to the near-final draft and an accompanying on-line questionnaire, while all of the regional hospitals and public health departments (including ellis) prominently posted the link on questionnaire on their public websites during may and june 2019. This posting throughout the entire six-county region resulted in 30 written comments. The written comments indicate that commenters found the draft chna easy to understand (67% = easy or very easy vs. 3% difficult) and generally informative (33% = extremely informative, 53% = informative, 13% = somewhat informative). Some commenters identified apparent errors and made suggestions for improvement which were incorporated in the final regional chna.”

“Ellis will continue to provide educational opportunities for community providers to keep them up to date on the latest medical advances for covid-19. Pursuant to guidance from the new york state department of health, schenectady's 2019 and 2016 chnas focused specifically on the two most significant community health needs: 1) chronic disease (obesity and diabetes for 2016, and tobacco prevention for 2019) and 2) mental health. In 2022, the two most significant health needs identified were 1) vaccine preventable diseases (covid-19) and 2) mental health and substance use disorders. The initial 2013 community health needs assessment identified fifteen health needs, and, consistent with federal requirements, the 2019 and 2016 chnas continue to identify all fifteen (consolidated to fourteen through combination of the interconnected obesity/diabetes and food insecurity topics) health needs as remaining in need of attention by the hospital. This number was reduced to 9 topics for the 2022 chna, and included: diabetes, obesity, sexually transmitted infections, tick-borne illnesses, breast cancer, tobacco use, and childhood lead exposure. During 2022 and dating back to the initial ppaca requirements for 2013, ellis hospital and its partners including other hospitals, county public health agencies, and community-based organizations took actions to address such needs, commensurate with the priority of each need and the availability of resources. Actions addressing the significant needs included the following: chronic disease obesity and diabetes: -ellis embarked on a two-pronged approach to issues of diabetes and obesity: 1) specific diabetes education programs were developed and delivered in the community and 2) weight loss and physical exercise programs were implemented for varying target groups. -ellis and partners piloted the "learn to live well" diabetes program for parishioners and community members at the zion lutheran church; the four-session curriculum included a presentation by ellis certified diabetes educators. -ellis staff met with representatives from the city mission and the local hindu temple to explore diabetes programming through their organizations. -in 2014, schenectady county public health services received a "partnerships to improve community health" (pich) grant which supported increased screening for diabetes in high-risk populations. Ellis was a subcontractor under the grant. -the pich grant also supported training of ellis diabetes care staff as lifestyle coaches for the national diabetes prevention program (dpp), which is offered at ellis medicine locations starting in october 2016. In late 2018, the ellis ddp program received recognition from the centers for disease control (cdc). -an embedded diabetes care manager was placed at ellis family health center as part of the pich grant to work on policies and systems related to diabetes management in a primary care setting, including referrals to the diabetes self-management education program. -with assistance from ellis medicine it staff, a registry of patients with diabetes was developed for ellis family health center to facilitate improved care. -ellis staff and local college students met with neighborhood associations to conduct a community asset mapping; this inventory is to be used to assess the viability of a city-wide physical activity program. -ellis held a physical activity field day for local youth in partnership with union college. -ellis engaged its own employees in competitive walking events and other weight-loss activity; participation counts toward reductions in health insurance premiums. -the healthy food access workgroup, renamed the diabetes/obesity workgroup, met three times during 2017. Average attendance for the meetings was 13 people. This group's focus during the year was to steer the food access focused work of the "partnerships to improve community health" (pich) grant which had been awarded to schenectady county public health services. Thi”

“-ellis diabetes care also offers diabetes self-management education (dsme) programs for individuals already diagnosed with diabetes. Education topics include; being active, healthy coping, healthy eating, monitoring, problem solving, reducing risks and taking medication. They receive referrals from ellis practices but also community-based organizations and other medical providers in the community. One of our goals is increase referrals to dsme and increase the number of individuals who follow through on their referral and attend at least one session of dsme. Between august 2019 and july 2021, 368 patients were established in the ellis diabetes self-management education program. The program has achieved recognition by the american diabetes recognition, most recently in october 2021, which allows ellis to bill for dsme services through medicaid, medicare and private insurers. In 2022, the outpatient diabetes educator met with 351 diabetic patients. -ellis also employs a certified diabetes educator in the inpatient setting. The educator's time is divided between patient education, staff development, and quality improvement initiatives. In 2022, the educator conducted 590 patient consults to provide education to newly diagnosed diabetics in the inpatient setting. The 2022-2025 goal is to maintain the number of diabetes education patient consults that the certified diabetes educator provides. In 2022, the diabetes educator is working on a project to start eligible patients on freestyle libre 2 and dexcom continuous glucose monitors while in the hospital for transitioning the patients to home monitoring. -the inpatient diabetes educator provides education to health care workers at ellis medicine through registered nurse orientations, monthly graduate nurse meetings, quarterly hospitalist education meetings, medical grand rounds presentations, resident orientation, and pharmacy/nursing in-service education huddles for insulin pump use. Additionally, the educator also works with the belanger school of nursing to offer guest lectures on diabetes, and with sage college to provide orientation for interns and shadowing opportunities for nutrition students in the hospital setting. For 2022-2025, the goal is to begin providing cme credit for educational programs provided to the hospitalists. -scphs provided funding through the partnerships to improve community health grant to train ellis medicine staff as "lifestyle coaches" to deliver the dpp. Scphs also supported the promotion of the classes through advertisements in the local newspaper and sharing flyers with local partners. The pich grant was able to purchase incentives for the program to help people to continue coming to the program. -ellis medicine provides staff for running the dsme programs, which is housed in ellis diabetes care. They also provide resources to promote the program in the community and to their employees. Ellis diabetes care collects all the data that is needed for this program and monitors progress with referrals. Sunnyview hospital also provides referrals to the dsme program. -funding from the community foundation for the greater capital region to support the continued work with food pantries is helpful in maintaining forward momentum. Funded activities include education for food pantry clients, the purchase of healthier food options, and support from cornell cooperative extension, schenectady county. Ellis medicine's multiple primary care offices and outpatient education services interface directly with community members experiencing food insecurity who could benefit from access to healthy foods at local food pantries. Ellis care managers also provide their clients with referrals to community-based organizations including food pantries. Cdphp recently began utilizing their care managers to screen for food insecurity and make appropriate referrals based on the outcome. Utilizing the medical community as a point of entry for has ensured community members are connect”

“During 2018, there were four meetings of the suicide prevention coalition. The dates and attendance are as follows: june 5 (40 attendees), august 20 (25 attendees), october 15 (15 attendees), and november 13, (15 attendees). The suicide prevention coalition established four priority areas to work on as a group. These include: 1) change and eliminate stigma, 2) increase community involvement, 3) encourage networking between providers of service and the community, and 4) increase peer services. The coalition shortly thereafter went on a hiatus 2019 due to low membership involvement. In 2022/2023 the office of community services will explore the current community needs and potential benefits of re-instituting the coalition. -the ellis pediatric health center received a grant from the new york state office of mental health to implement the healthy steps program supporting at-risk families with children from birth to three years old. The grant enabled hiring a healthy steps specialist who is engaged in expanding awareness of the adverse childhood experiences (aces) concept throughout the community. -the office of community services provided trauma-informed care training two times for schenectady county foster parents, one on march 26, 2018 (15 participants) and one on october 30, 2018 (also 15 participants). Additionally, ocs trained ellis medicine's outpatient adult mental health clinic staff on trauma-informed care and suicide prevention on august 8, 2018; 45 participants attended that training. A trauma-informed care training class was hosted by the university at albany school of social welfare on march 12, 2018; 10 people from schenectady county attended. The title was "trauma past trauma present: understanding and applying important skills in trauma informed phase oriented treatment." the trainer was dr. Allison jackson. -schenectady city school district is also engaged in work around trauma, creating trauma-sensitive schools. In may 2018, schenectady high school held a mental health fair in the evening for both students and parents. Numerous community resources were shared and then a screening of the film "resilience" was held with a discussion panel after. Over 100 people attended the event. -the dual recovery task force, led by the office of community services, met a total of nine times during 2018 with an average attendance of 16 individuals. The dual recovery task force includes providers from both mental health and substance use disorder systems, making an important connection for treating those with dual diagnoses. The group had 13 different presentations at their meetings regarding community resources for those with a dual diagnosis. Programs that were presented ranged from outpatient mental health clinics to harm reduction services and housing. These presentations by community providers are an important step in promoting their programs and making sure the community is aware of all available resources. -in 2018, the trauma informed care workgroups that were established in 2017 merged into one group under the new title of "trauma-informed community workgroup." this group met a total of eight times: february 21 (14 attendees), february 27 (7 attendees), june 22 (5 attendees), june 26 (14 attendees), july 31 (10 attendees), august 28 (15 attendees), october 30 (18 attendees) and november 26 (12 attendees). This group held a brainstorming session in june 2018 to determine a mission, vision, goals and common definitions of trauma language (trauma-informed care, aces, toxic stress, and resilience). One of the goals of the group was to determine a baseline of trauma-informed practices each participating organization is using. This baseline would help determine next steps for training needs of community based organizations. The group decided to utilize coordinated care services, inc.'s tool called the "trauma-informed care organizational self-assessment tool" (tic osat) for each organization. During the fall of 2018, 11 organi”

“-ellis, the schenectady city school district (scsd), and price chopper pharmacy participated in the "school-based asthma management program," which enrolls a small but increasing number of the 1,150 diagnosed asthmatic students in scsd. The program administers albuterol treatments, enabling students to return to class 98.7% of the time. In addition to the in-school component, nearly a third of the students and their parents completed outpatient asthma self-management training sessions through ellis asthma care. -the ellis asthma education program found that "graduates" achieve a 60-70% reduction in emergency department visits over 12 months post-discharge. -a care manager from the ellis-sponsored health home completed a two-day asthma training course. -ellis continued its strong asthma education program and continued to collaborate with the capital district tobacco free coalition. Informal "suasion" within the community encouraged various smoke-free initiatives; a newly constructed affordable housing project on albany street in schenectady is smoke-free from the start, and the entire union college campus was smoke-free as of january 1, 2017. Since august 2016, the legal age for the sale of tobacco products in schenectady county is set by local law at 21. -ellis employs an embedded respiratory therapist/educator in its emergency department who provides bedside disease management education and smoking cessation counseling to patients with asthma, copd and asthma-copd overlap (aco) receiving treatment at the ellis hospital emergency department. In 2022, the embedded respiratory therapist provided 61 patients with education and referrals to outpatient respiratory education services. -ellis also offers outpatient asthma, copd and aco disease self-management education. Utilizing best practices adapted from the guidelines of the national asthma education and prevention program and the global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease (gold), ellis offers a self-management education program that incorporates the expertise certified asthma educators (ae-cs) and certified pulmonary disease educators to help pediatric and adult patients live a full and productive life. In 2022, ellis provided disease self-management education a total of 44 sessions to 32 patients. -ellis medicine offers "the butt stops here", an in-person tobacco cessation program led by a certified facilitator. The program fee is $45, medicaid participants pay a $20 fee, and it is free for mvp members, cdphp members, and ellis medicine employees. The program is six weeks and includes a workbook, relaxation cd, and two weeks of nicotine patches or gum. -in 2019, there were 32 participants enrolled in the program, four of which were medicaid participants. In 2020, prior to the start of the covid-19 pandemic, there were 9 participants enrolled in the program. Due to restrictions on in-person meetings, no classes were held in 2020 and in 2021 classes were held virtually. For 2022-2025, the goal is to return participation in "the butt stops here" program to pre-pandemic levels. Towards that effort, a new in-program class began enrolling participants in may 2022. With comprehensive regulatory-compliant signage consistent with current standards and in a format consistent with signs at sunnyview and other large campuses. -ellis revised its tobacco use policy to prohibit the use of tobacco products and electronic cigarettes anywhere on ellis property. Employees now are prohibited from smoking during the workday. Ellis also produced cards with information about the tobacco use policy, including resource to support quitting, that security staff present to anyone using tobacco products on ellis medicine property. Cardiovascular disease: -ellis medicine has achieved the american heart association's 2022 get with the guidelines heart failure gold plus status. This is the highest level of achievement for this program. The program focuses on quality metrics that pertain to the hea”

“Adolescent (teen) pregnancy: -ellis, the schenectady city school district, planned parenthood mohawk hudson, the alliance for positive health, and the schenectady teen and adult coalition (stac) worked to consider causes and solutions to the consistently high rates of adolescent pregnancy in certain neighborhoods. -the project engaged adolescents/teenagers in focus group and multiple meetings. A gap in health education at local schools was identified. After most health education teachers had been laid off due to budget cuts, students are receiving no health education classes between 6th grade and 10th grade. Planned parenthood arranged student health education assemblies in 2016 and 2018 and is seeking to reintroduce middle school health classes. -the schenectady foundation's "call to action for schenectady's youth" grant program provided funding for the "cradle project," a multimedia project that is focusing a lens on schenectady's high rate of teenage pregnancy the highest in the capital region and its toll on the community. Dozens of local youth were involved in writing original music and dialog, as well as performing and producing "cradle," a documentary film about teen pregnancy. The film debuted on saturday, july 13, 2019, at proctors theatre in schenectady. The cradle project will also include music videos and forums about sexual health and professional development. Falls: -the 2013 chna identified particularly high falls mortality in the community, and a high number of falls in one neighborhood. Data analysis identified a large senior housing facility in this neighborhood as the falls "hot spot." -ellis staff met with administrators at the facility on several occasions. Union college students were engaged to assist the facility staff to track indicators and trends. -having identified the issue at one senior housing facility, ambulance call data were obtained from the local ambulance company to analyze the prevalence of falls at other senior facilities. -schenectady county public health services and schenectady county senior and long-term care services partnered to offer tai chi for arthritis classes in the community to help prevent falls in older adults. -as part of the work of the schenectady coalition for a healthy community, the schenectady county league of women voters (lwv) undertook lead activities for a "falls prevention work group." the work group met regularly and engaged experts from the state department of health, senior citizen organizations, rehabilitation facilities, and local government agencies. The lwv became unable to lead the group as of early 2017, and the group ceased to meet. Food insecurity: -the focus on food insecurity came from a 2013 umatter schenectady survey. The results of the survey indicated that the majority of residents among three schenectady neighborhoods (hamilton hill, eastern avenue, and central state) had run out of food at least once in the past year. This finding correlated with the prevalence of severe obesity (bmi >35) which is more than double for people who run out of food every month or nearly every month compared to those who don't report running out of food. -a partnership including schenectady community action program, city mission of schenectady, ellis medicine, and the schenectady foundation obtained a grant from the robert wood johnson foundation to support a "community coach" from the university of wisconsin population health institute. The "coach" convened a series of telephone conferences and an on-site visit to help focus community resources and thinking. -as a result of the coaching, the partnership developed a community plan including asset mapping and a root cause analysis and developed collaboration with the schenectady county food providers group. No clear, single, cause was found, although there was some evidence that some service gaps (e.g., few food pantries are open on weekends) and inefficiencies in the distribution system may be contributors. -during 2”

“-in january 2019, a task force at bellevue woman's center implemented a pilot program to incorporate immediate post-partum iud placement. The pilot program includes patients from the ellis family health center. These patients are informed of the availability of this contraception option as part of the routine prenatal discussion of postpartum contraception. Those women desiring this method and who have no contraindications at the time of delivery, will be able to have iud placed immediately following delivery. Anecdotally, the patients at the ellis family health center have shorter interconception spacing and high proportion of unplanned pregnancies. This program aims to decrease the short interconception spacing of subsequent pregnancies and reduce unintended pregnancies for this patient population. Prenatal care, perinatal and infant health: -ellis' bellevue woman's center partners with other maternity providers including hometown health and planned parenthood mohawk hudson to offer seamless care from initial prenatal care to birth and then follow-up. The ellis family health center and the ellis pediatric care center are in the same building, allowing warm handoffs from the mother's prenatal care to the baby's well care. In addition to direct clinical care for pregnant medicaid beneficiaries and their babies, the health home provides care management and coordinates with the schenectady county public health service's home visiting program. Resources expended by ellis include the net unreimbursed cost of the various maternity care services; metrics include maternity outcomes data. Neighborhood safety: -ellis and the city of schenectady participated on several initiatives to stabilize the northside/goose hill neighborhood where the nott street campus is located. These include a "walk to work" initiative and a program to promote home ownership ("home ownership made easy" (home)). In addition, construction at the nott street campus included new sidewalks and improved street lighting, both issues of neighborhood safety which had been identified in the chna. -ellis was invited by the new york state health foundation to apply for a community-wide "healthy neighborhoods fund" grant. The application was submitted but not funded. Programs for youth and adolescents: -in december 2014, the schenectady foundation hosted a conference entitled "bridges to youths" to better understand the needs of schenectady's youth. -the conference led to the "call to action for schenectady's youth." since its launch, the schenectady foundation has so far invested $770,000 in eight programs with the potential to bring powerful and positive change to schenectady's youth. Call to action for youth is a three-year, $2 million community-wide effort to empower children and teens that face significant barriers to success. Grants include support of scholarships, job training, and sports programs for youth. -in 2023, ellis announced a new partnership with the schenectady city school district and the state university of new york schenectady, the ellis promise. The ellis promise takes a holistic approach that includes diverse recruiters, success coaches, community navigators and financial support to help graduates of both institutions, along with under-resourced adults, overcome common barriers and achieve long-term success as ellis employees. The goal is twofold: to help ellis attract a sustainable and diverse workforce and to give schenectady residents more extensive opportunities to find and maintain living-wage employment. Breast cancer: -in 2021, ellis became a member of roswell park care network to address the unmet need for medical oncology services in schenectady county. Roswell park comprehensive cancer center is a nationally designated cancer institute (nci); one of only five in nys and the only one upstate. The new center provides access to world-class cancer care, which previously was only available hours away. Ellis also provides mammograms and other adv”

“-in december 2021, ellis and st. Peter's health partners (sphp) received approval from the new york state department of health for a management services agreement (msa). The agreement allows the two organizations to work together on projects designed to preserve and expand the community's access to health care, while also strengthening ellis' financial standing and quality metrics. Ellis will remain independent from sphp throughout the two-year term of the agreement, with its board of trustees retaining local control. -these latest agreements build on a long relationship between the two health care systems. Both ellis and sphp share a vision for a more fully integrated, region-wide approach to care that aims to improve the health of its neighbors; embraces new models such as value-based care; and lowers overall health care costs for the community. Community health improvement: -ellis continued programs of community and patient education and support. Health professions education: -ellis, the only hospital in the region to sponsor both physician education and nursing education, continued to provide a broad variety of health professions education programs including the belanger school of nursing, the family medicine residency, grand rounds and other continuing professional education programs. Ellis also serves as a training and preceptorship site for numerous community-based health professions education programs. Unreimbursed costs of health professions education are reported on irs form 990, schedule h. Subsidized and free health services: -ellis continued to participate in government insurance programs including medicare and medicaid, while providing reduced rates and charity care for self-pay patients, as detailed in irs form 990, schedule h. Medicare, medicaid, and financial assistance (charity care) covered over two-thirds of inpatient discharges during 2022.”