TGMC’s Steps to Success Program receives finalist award for improving parental and children’s outcomes for Louisiana’s underserved population
Date released: 2/18/2008
The Steps to Success (STS)program at Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma, La. has been recognized by Premier Inc. and its member hospitals for delivering parenting and prevention education and support to its communities.
Established in 1998, Terrebonne General’s Steps to Success (STS) program provides services to underserved individuals of all ages, races and socioeconomic backgrounds of the tri-parish region.
STS has improved outcomes for more than 8,500 parents and children by focusing on preventing teenage pregnancy, fostering the healthy development of children during the critical ages of 0 to 3, and providing young mothers and fathers with resources, education and support to cultivate effective parenting.
The Steps to Success program was one of six organizations nationally recognized as a finalist for the 16th annual Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award. The Cares Award, sponsored by Premier Inc. and its member hospitals, honors exemplary efforts by not-for-profit organizations to improve access to healthcare for the underserved.
Representatives from STS were recognized during Premier’s annual Governance Education Conference, which took place in Phoenix, Arizona on January 21-23.
Kristie Mazur, BS, the Steps to Success (STS) Support Services Coordinator and Penny Brooks, LCSW, who originated the program, accepted the award on behalf of TGMC. “We are very honored to receive this award and look forward to the continued success of the program and to working with members of our community to continue the mission of the STS program,” said Mazur and Brooks.
A leading alliance of not-for-profit hospitals, Premier receives 150 to 200 applications annually for the prestigious award. A panel of hospital professionals, as well as health and business industry leaders, selects the winner and five finalists, which all receive cash awards for use in further improving their programs.
“We are proud to support the efforts of organizations that are making a real difference in people’s health every day,” said Richard A. Norling, Premier’s President and CEO. “With the Cares Award, we recognize those programs that are helping us achieve Premier’s core purpose of ‘improving the health of the communities we serve.’”
“The award will be used to enhance the learning experiences of the population that uses these services,” explained Mazur.
This year’s Cares Award recipient was the Bridge to the Future program at Nurses for Newborns Foundation in St. Louis, which provides a safety net for at-risk families who are underinsured or have limited access to resources, in order to prevent infant mortality, child abuse and neglect through in-home nursing visits.
Four other finalists were: The Birth Companions Program of Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Baltimore, Crews’n Healthmobile Mobile Clinic Project of Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Phoenix, El Rio Pharmacy Based Diabetes Program of the El Rio Foundation, Tucson, Arizona, and Metta Health Center of the Lowell Community Health Center, Lowell, Mass.
About Premier Inc., 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient
Serving 1,700 U.S. hospitals and more than 49,000 other healthcare sites, the Premier healthcare alliance is working to transform healthcare. Owned by non-profit hospitals, Premier operates one of the largest healthcare purchasing networks and the nation's largest comprehensive repository of hospital clinical and financial information. Premier Insurance Management Services, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary, operates one of the largest policy-holder owned, hospital professional liability risk-retention groups in healthcare. Premier is also working with the United Kingdom's National Health Service North West region to implement a model pay-for-performance program, called “Advancing Quality.” Headquartered in San Diego, Premier has offices in Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia, and Washington. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com. Established to improve the health of communities, Premier and its members are transforming healthcare together.
About the Premier Cares Award
Premier has presented the Cares Award annually since 1992, when it was created by Dr. Monroe E. Trout, former CEO of American Healthcare Systems, one of Premier’s heritage organizations. The competition is open to non-profit organizations that have been in existence for more than two years, are providing creative solutions to health status improvement, can provide documentation of outcomes and impact on a specific population, and have programs that can be replicated in other communities.