Brandywine Health Foundation facility selected as one of the best in the nation
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
The Brandywine Health Foundation’s Brandywine Center in Coatesville was honored by the Robert Wood Health Foundation Commission for its efforts in improving community health.
COATESVILLE – The Brandywine Health Foundation’s Brandywine Center earned recognition from the Robert Wood Health Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America last month for its efforts in providing healthcare for the community.
The Brandywine Center provides dental, pediatric, and mental health services for area residents, focusing on providing care for uninsured and underinsured residents of the area.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the country’s largest public health philanthropy, organized a commission in 2008 to identify and create environments where public health could be improved and protected. Their nationwide survey of 661 health professionals placed Coatesville’s Brandywine Health Foundation among the top organizations working to promote public health, ranking it with healthcare centers from cities as large as Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles.
“It’s certainly an honor that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recognizes that big changes can happen in small communities,” said the Brandywine Health Foundation’s President and CEO Frances Sheehan. “The Coatesville community is one where a lot of different people and a lot of different institutions have to come together to create positive change.”
ChesPenn Health Services, Chester County Community Dental Center, and Human Services, Inc. are just a few of the other companies that have contributed to the Brandywine Center to provide health services for the community.
However, the commission’s report stresses that a healthy community does not simply mean physical health. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation believes a healthy community means affordable housing, safe neighborhoods, and work opportunities so that people can afford to look after their health. Their report emphasized collaboration with all sectors of the city and city leaders to provide such an environment.
“To simply provide people with healthcare for a medical visit every year is not enough for people — children in particular — to grow up healthy,” agreed Sheehan.
She said that the Brandywine Health Foundation has collaborated with the city police department, local housing agencies, the Coatesville Area School District and county officials to concentrate efforts to improve the community. They also started the Coatesville Youth Initiative and run a children’s library.
Collaboration has allowed the foundation to provide affordable housing for low-income seniors and help to solve many other concerns that an organization focused on strictly healthcare would not be able to.
“We work closely with our police department to address issues of community safety. We look at if there are signs of community deterioration. We also look at whether or not there are jobs; are there businesses in the area? Have people in our community been educated and trained so they can get the jobs that are out there,” said Sheehan.
She believes that education will prepare residents for jobs, and the city’s rebuilding could bring in businesses to provide those jobs.
“We’re not interested in gentrification. That’s just going to push people out of the community who have been living here for generations, but we are looking for economic revitalization that will bring jobs and commercial activity to the community,” said Sheehan.
Another important factor for the future of the Coatesville’s health comes in the form of the Affordable Care Act, which will have many of its provisions implemented next year.
“It’s very significant. If the governor ultimately approves Medicaid expansion, it’s going to be tens of thousands of people just in Chester County who finally have health insurance,” said Sheehan.
She believes that the act will not only allow more people to seek solutions for health problems but also give them access to healthcare to prevent the problems in the first place.
In the immediate future, she said that the foundation will look to collaborate even more deeply with various groups throughout the community. She would like to see significant progress in balancing the racial disparity of the healthcare system in the next few years.
In the more distant future, the foundation has big goals for the city.
“Ten years from now, I hope we’ll see a fully revitalized community. Everybody will have the education and training they deserve to help them be gainfully employed. I think that will make a tremendous difference in the community,” said Sheehan.
