September 10, 2025
Local NewsState & National

GRH reviews community reinvestment plans

By HANNAH HAGLE

CNA photo by TYLER ELLYSON Creston Medical Clinic, which is located inside Greater Regional Medical Center, will integrate its staff with Greater Regional Jan. 1, 2010. All of the clinic's physicians and nurses, and most of the staff, will become employees of Greater Regional at that time. The move is expected to help with physician recruitment, reimbursement and future changes in the medical field.

Greater Regional health board of Directors met Monday and discussed how they can reinvest back to the community.

Opportunity to Help

“We have been doing this now for almost 10 years, in some form or fashion. Making our community and our region a desired location where families want to come live, work and play and improve on a healthy perspective as far as housing, education opportunities and overall wellness,” said GRH CEO Monte Neitzel.

In a presentation by GRH marketing department over the past decade hospitals in general have been tasked with growing responsibilities associated to social determinants of health.

Health determinants examples include education access and quality, health care access and quality, economic stability, neighborhood and built environment and social and community context.

“Social determinants might be a new term for our community members, overall it’s a new vision for hospital investment and community health on a national level,” said GRH Director of Marketing Communications, Kayla Hoffman.

Hoffman stated according to her research that non-profit hospitals spend 80% of their community benefits on options like charity care by donation or payment of shortfalls due to Medicaid, compared to 12% on community health from a perspective as a whole in relation to social determinants of health.

“A lot of hospitals are using this fund for a donation, for example, American Cancer Society, which is great, thats how they give back, but from local community perspective then only 12% of that total funding is going back into their own community,” said Hoffman.

Healthy Community Initiative

“I feel like GRH is aligning our community investment within the parameters of social determinants,” said Hoffman.

GRH Board assist in helping attain a health community, which is one that has quality education, safe and healthy homes, adequate employment, transportation, physical activity, nutrition and quality health care. In comparison, unhealthy communities lead to chronic disease, related but not limited to cancers, diabetes and heart disease.

“When we talk about neighborhood and physical environment, that’s a huge area of opportunity for GRH. We have invested in the trails, in Creston, Lenox, Afton and opportunities in Ringgold County,” said Neitzel.

Greater Regional Health’s five year growth has made possible community reinvestment initiatives to be supported by the organization, example being the outdoor walking or running trails offered around the community and other regions.

“Contributions to the Creston Community School District for an adaptive playground so that every child or student can take part in a safe environment offering exercise and fresh air,” said Neitzel.

The adaptive playground allows kids with or without disabilities to access and use a variety of playground equipment.

GRH has too provided contributions to the Food Pantry and sponsors the K9 dog for the police department among other initiatives like hosting farmers market at McKinley Park.

Donation of an ambulance to SWCC to help students to experience real-world and hands-on learning.

“We invest here at GRH in our people, in our facilities, and continually push to meet the needs of our surrounding community and regions served,” said Neitzel.

In other GRH Board news:

-Continued momentum for the Daycare project, to break ground in June.

-Board approved maintenance signage improvements located on Highway 34.

-Approved of staffing applications.

-Teresa Newman UnityPoint update revealed COVID positive cases are low in regards to daily reporting.