Spring Seems to be Truly Here 

There are diners on Nicollet Mall, the Nice Ride bike stations have reappeared and a new season of outdoor baseball began this week. Spring for the Chamber is always a busy time. We are working hard to provide you with ways to connect with your fellow members through the programs and events offered not only by the Minneapolis Regional Chamber but also by our area chambers in Bloomington and Northeast Minneapolis.

One event in particular I would like to call your attention to is "Does Your Zip Code Matter More Than Your Genetic Code?" featuring Dr. Anthony Iton on May 13. Dr. Iton will share findings from his work exploring the relationship between educational achievement, socio-economic status, and geography. This program is made possible by the generosity of HealthPartners, and it fits well with their focus on community business partnerships. You can read more about HealthPartners initiatives in the article below.

Hope you have cast off your coats & jackets with the coming of spring! 

 
Laura McCarten
Regional Vice President | Xcel Energy.

HealthPartners Strengthens
Partnerships to Improve Community Health

When it comes to improving the overall health of our community, there are several key factors at work. Providing exceptional clinical care, for example, through primary care hospitals and specialty clinics is very important in contributing to health outcomes. But that's just the beginning.

According to a study developed by the University of Wisconsin, care delivery only represents 20 percent of health outcomes. The remaining 80 percent is comprised of social and economic factors, health behaviors and people's physical environment. For that reason, HealthPartners leaders set out back in 2010 to assess community health needs in the communities that they serve, as well as their own capabilities to address those needs.

"We recognized that we were well equipped to drive improvements through clinical care and health behaviors," said Mary Brainerd, HealthPartners president and

CEO. "For the other two factors, we knew that we needed to partner with schools, foundations, nonprofits and local and state government agencies to achieve substantial results." 

As a result, HealthPartners adopted a community business model that would allow them to partner and influence all four of these factors.

Some examples of this model include the yumPower School Challenge, which was formed through a partnership between HealthPartners and a number of school districts from all across Minnesota and western Wisconsin. This program was designed to encourage schoolchildren to learn more about the benefits of healthy eating and to track their fruit and vegetable consumption over a four-week period. In the first year, 76 percent of students tracked their fruit and vegetable consumption, which has been shown to directly affect food intake behavior. This year, the program was implemented in a record 63 schools and has reached more than 20,000 students to date.

Another example comes in the form of HealthPartners involvement with Honoring Choices Minnesota, a collaborative project with the goal of improving end-of-life care. By engaging people via both health care organizations as well as the communities directly, Honoring Choices is now driving important conversations related to advance care planning in Minnesota. HealthPartners' role in this partnership has been to participate and advocate as a health provider, to help recruit additional funders and partners, and to serve as a project adviser on community engagement and action.

Lastly, HealthPartners has long prioritized improving mental health in the community. In fact, Regions Hospital in downtown St. Paul is a safety-net hospital containing half of the mental health beds in the eastern Twin Cities. Unfortunately, HealthPartners lacks direct influence over many of the entities responsible for providing mental health services. Instead of accepting the stigmatizing of mental illness as inevitable, HealthPartners collaborated with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), along with other groups to change the community attitudes through a public education campaign called Make It OK. This campaign shares research data about mental illness in easily understandable, nonscientific terms, along with practical tips about how to discuss what many people consider an awkward subject.

These are just three of the many community health partnerships operating under HealthPartners' community business model, representing a long-term investment in improving health outcomes for the community.

"Whether it's promoting healthy eating in schools, reducing the stigma of mental illness or improving end-of-life decision making, our mission extends beyond our health plan and our health care facilities," Brainerd said. "Our priority is bringing together the community resources and businesses to create new and effective approaches to improving the health of everyone in our community."

Northeast Networking Night: Psycho Suzi's Ports of Pleasure
Wednesday, April 22
5 to 6:30 p.m. / Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge - Ports of Pleasure

Thank you to our event sponsor: Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge and Arcata

Get to Know Minnesota Keystone
Thursday, April 23
5 to 6:30 p.m. / PadillaCRT

Thank you to our program sponsors: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota,  

RBC Wealth Management, Target and Wells Fargo
Thank you to our event sponsor: PadillaCRT

Chamber Community Connection: Second Harvest Heartland
Tuesday, April 28
1:30 to 4:30 p.m. / Second Harvest Heartland West

Thank you to our supporting sponsor: Thrivent Financial

DRIVE Social: Surly Brewing MSP - Scheid Hall
Wednesday, April 29
5:30 to 7:30 p.m. / Surly Brewing MSP: Scheid Hall

Thank you to our sponsors: Arcata, RBC Wealth Management and Bywater Business Solutions

Weed It and Reap + Cultivate Northeast
Thursday, May 7 to Saturday, May 9
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. / Tom's Style and Tanning

Thank you to our sponsors: Wells Fargo, Xcel Energy,  

Lions Club of Northeast Minneapolis and Tom's Style & Tanning