River Hospital’s River Community Wellness Program was among six programs from across the nation named a Program of Promise through the Hospital Charitable Services Awards, a national program sponsored by Jackson Healthcare.

The River Community Wellness Program (RCWP) at River Hospital provides intensive outpatient behavioral health services for active duty military personnel stationed at Ft. Drum. RCWP provides continuity of care for soldiers transitioning from an inpatient stay. It also serves as an intensive intervention option for mental health services locally to reduce potential admissions of service members to an inpatient level of care, focusing instead on building coping skills and supports in the community. It is the only program of its kind in the United States. The program keeps military members close to home while they are healing and learning to cope.

Each of the six programs were recognized as early-stage hospital-sponsored programs with a clear vision for addressing underserved community health needs. At a banquet that was the culmination of the National Hospital Charitable Services Conference, each winning program was presented with a monetary investment toward the growth of their program.

“These initiatives are not alone in giving back to their communities,” said Charles R. Evans, FACHE, Chairman of the Hospital Charitable Services Awards program. “What makes each Program of Promise unique is their potential to impact their community in a very specific and sustainable way.”

Jackson Healthcare instituted the Hospital Charitable Services Awards program in 2010 to identify high-impact community health programs, share their stories and offer them as models for other communities to replicate.

This year’s six Programs of Promise were selected from a pool of 208 nominees. Each nominee had to demonstrate excellence in the following five criteria areas: community impact, innovation, collaboration, transferability and best practice.

The other 2015 Programs of Promise included:

• MetroHealth Medical Home for Children in Foster Care, The MetroHealth System, Cleveland, Ohio
• Diabetes TeleHealth Network,  University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi
• It’s a Girl Thing, Making Proud Choices,  Union General Hospital, Farmerville, Louisiana
• The Autism Patient-Centered Specialty Practice, Hospital for Special Care, Hartford, Connecticut
• The Justice Health Initiative, Cook County Health & Hospital System, Chicago, Illinois

Pictured are Bob Schlotman, Chief Marketing Officer for Jackson Healthcare with Cynthia Nelson, Administrative Specialist for River Hospital.