About the Meeting:
On September 23, 2009, health safety net stakeholders from across the region met to learn from Steve Skardon, Executive Director of the Palmetto Project in South Carolina. The Palmetto Project is a statewide, nonprofit corporation whose mission is to put innovative ideas to work solving social and economic problems in South Carolina. Under Mr. Skardon’s leadership, the organization has implemented 180 public-private partnerships in health care, election reform, race relations, economic development, housing, and education. Mr. Skardon spoke briefly of the Palmetto Project’s health initiatives at the June, 2009 Summit, and was invited back to further discuss the process and outcomes of these initiatives in South Carolina.
Stakeholders met for a half day in Wheaton, IL to learn about how the public-private partnerships were created, how the South Carolina Immunization Project, Communicare, and AccessNet were developed, and why South Carolina has moved to a model of regional networks of care to improve safety net services in the state.
With the support of the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration and foundations in South Carolina, the Palmetto Project’s initiatives have seen an increase in the childhood immunization rate from 53% to 90% (making it number 1 in the U.S. for childhood immunization rates), a 27% reduction in cost of care for patients served by the regional patient navigator network (AccessNet), an 83% reduction of ER utilization by navigated patients with cardiovascular disease, and the development of a state-of-the-art data collection and management system. Our regional stakeholders learned about the initiatives and discussed ideas for improving the health safety net in our region.
Steve Skardon also met with a group of funders to discuss the role foundations have taken in leading the health efforts in South Carolina.
Materials from the Meeting:
View the Introduction PowerPoint, which provides background on this Initiative
