Vantage Plastics employees, community to benefit
Arenac County has been selected as one of five communities across the country — and the only one in Michigan — to participate in a new program from the de Beaumont Foundation focused on strengthening the economic prosperity of communities by advancing public health and equity.
The program, Innovative, Multi-sector Partnerships for Community Transformation (IMPACT) in Public Health, aims to catalyze and support partnerships between governmental public health departments and the private sector.
The Arenac County program involves a partnership between the Michigan Health Improvement Alliance, the Central Michigan District Health Department, Vantage Plastics and Vantage’s non-profit outreach arm The WELL Outreach. With a goal of improving preventive care, decreasing poverty and increasing employee retention, a community health worker will be embedded among and focused entirely on Vantage employees and their families.
“Cultivating connections between individuals and their communities becomes one of the greatest resources to foster healthier families and communities,” said Steve Hall, health officer for the Central Michigan District Health Department.
Hall said the aim is to remove barriers toward building healthy communities, which in turn enables an able-bodied workforce.
“Our goal is to reduce barriers for individuals to address needs impacting their health,” he said. “We are hopeful this project will demonstrate that when we work together, we can impact the health of the community in a positive way.”
The WELL Outreach is a non-profit community and family-centered organization whose aim is to build a stronger community by empowering individuals to take charge of their lives. Heather Bauman, The Well executive director, is encouraged by opportunities the IMPACT in Public Health program will bring to Vantage and the community.
“Ultimately, our end game is to prove that when a company partners with public health and utilizes resources in the community better, the employees’ health, safety and well-being shift, and the entire communities’ health and well-being moves, too,” Bauman said. “I’m excited to have evidence-based data to take upstream and provide better care that meets the needs of our community.”
Vantage Plastics President Paul Aultman believes this public and private partnership can be a catalyst for future programs.
“This partnership of helping individuals in the community with their health and other needs is a perfect fit for our mission,” he said. “We know that by working together, we are much more capable of fulfilling the needs of those individuals who need help than we could independently.”
Enhancing culture of care
The Michigan Health Improvement Alliance plays a unique role in this program because of its commitment to enhancing the culture of care in the 14 counties it serves in central and eastern Michigan, said its CEO Heidi Tracy.
“A culture of care includes not only primary health care, but also a team approach to health and looking at social determinants of health,” she said. “In a rural setting such as Arenac County, where services and health care providers are so spread out, this is extremely important.”
Tracy said the IMPACT in Public Health program at Vantage mirrors the Northern Michigan Community Health Innovation Region’s Community Connections program in a business setting. Their model helps communities come together to support under-resourced residents and to improve health and well-being.
“We are excited to leverage established, proven programs like Community Connections through innovative ideas such as partnering with private employers,” Tracy said.
About IMPACT in Public Health
“The COVID-19 pandemic showed us that community health and economic well-being are inextricably linked,” said Brian C. Castrucci, DrPH, president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation. “Businesses need healthy employees, consumers and partners, and communities need employment opportunities, stability and equitable economic prosperity, to ensure that all people can achieve their best possible health.”
IMPACT in Public Health supports this shared vision of health, equity and prosperity by investing in the collaborations needed for systems change and improved outcomes. In the program’s first cohort, five partnership teams in communities across the United States will receive funding and technical assistance to establish, develop and begin to implement programs that address contributors to local health outcomes over a 15-month period.
Learn more about IMPACT in Public Health and the other communities selected for the program on de Beaumont’s website.
Media contact: Heather Smith, [email protected]