Medical College of Wisconsin Awards Partnership Grants

The Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program of the Medical College of Wisconsin has awarded 24 grants totaling $6,368,224 designed to improve the health of Wisconsin residents through health advocacy and disease prevention initiatives.

"We take great pride in partnering with community organizations to address many of the major health problems facing Wisconsin citizens through the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program," said T. Michael Bolger, JD, President and CEO of the Medical College. "The program continues to draw many qualified proposals from which our national team of reviewers can select those that will have the most long-term impact on the health of our citizens."

The Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program funds two types of Wisconsin-based community-academic partnerships. Impact Projects generally last three years and fund partnership activities related to the implementation of a program or partnership with significant impact; while Development Projects generally last one year and fund activities related to the formation or development of a partnership, project or program.

Proposals received were evaluated by external reviewers with expertise in public and community health. The Medical College Consortium on Public and Community Health, consisting of community and Medical College members, made the final award determinations as approved by the Medical College Board of Trustees.

"We are very pleased to assist communities in meeting their most pressing needs to improve the health of their citizens," said Terry Brandenburg, Chair of the Medical College Consortium on Public and Community Health.

The following 13 Impact Projects received funding totaling $5,829,096; the 11 Development Projects received funding totaling $539,128.

Elder Community Health Upholders ($441,187)
This partnership of nine Milwaukee churches and five health organizations will uphold the health of our most vulnerable, medically underserved communities through culturally aligned elder health ministries and new health advocacy and leadership practices.

Community Partners: American Cancer Society, Midwest Division, Wisconsin; Arthritis Foundation Wisconsin Chapter; American Heart Association; Christ Presbyterian Church; Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church; Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church; Tabernacle Community Baptist Church; Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church; Victory Missionary Baptist Church; Monumental Missionary Baptist Church; St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church; Incarnation Lutheran Church; Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-Southeast Wisconsin, Inc.

Academic Partners: Jeffrey Morzinski, PhD, MSSW; Karen Krause-From; Alan Wells, PhD, MPH - Family and Community Medicine

Emergency Department (ED) to Primary Care Medical Home Referral and Retention Project ($450,000)
Milwaukee Health Care Partnership (MHCP) plans to implement and evaluate the ED to Medical Home Referral and Retention Project for the dual purposes of ED diversion and linking low-income patients to primary care medical homes in Federally-Qualified Health Centers.

Community Partners: Columbia St. Mary's Health System; Westside Healthcare Association, Inc.; Health Care for the Homeless of Milwaukee, Inc.; Milwaukee Health Care Partnership

Academic Partners: Eric Gass, PhD; Marie Wolff, PhD - Family and Community Medicine

Healthy Youth: Strong and Connected ($449,203)
Our objective is to decrease violent, intentional injuries and improve mental health by providing the Staying Alive violence prevention curriculum to 4,500 6th grade children in Milwaukee Public Schools via firefighters, community workers and teachers.

Community Partners: Milwaukee Public Schools; Milwaukee Fire Department; Children's Service Society of Wisconsin (Project Ujima)

Academic Partners: Marlene Melzer-Lange, MD; Dawn Zahrt, PhD - Pediatrics

Integrating and Mapping Community Health Assessment Information ($450,000)
To develop an automated web-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) infrastructure for public health staff, researchers and students that can provide convenient mapped population health information from a variety of data sources to support community health improvement planning.

Community Partner: Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Division of Public Health

Academic Partners: Emmanuel Ngui, DrPH - Pediatrics, Center for the Advancement of Underserved Children; Peter Layde, MD, MSc; Emily McGinley - Population Health

Johnson's Park Health Alliance: Building a Culture of Community Sufficiency for Health in the Fond du Lac and North Avenue Neighborhoods ($450,000)
We aim to reduce socioeconomic and health disparities in an urban, African-American, Milwaukee neighborhood by strengthening a community-based health coalition and implementing programs to promote healthy life skills and community self-sufficiency.

Community Partners: Fondy Food Center, Inc.; Walnut Way Conservation Corporation; Johnson's Park Neighborhood Association; Seedfolks Youth Ministry

Academic Partners: Linda Meurer, MD, MPH; Syed Ahmed, MD, MPH, DrPH; Melanie S. Hinojosa, PhD; Melissa Holmquist, MS - Family and Community Medicine, Center for Healthy Communities

Kenosha County Suicide Prevention Initiative ($450,000)
The purpose of this project is to prevent suicide and non-fatal suicide attempts in Kenosha County by increasing access to mental health care, increasing awareness and education and reducing access to lethal means.

Community Partners: Kenosha County Division of Health; Mental Health America of Wisconsin

Academic Partners: Stephen Hargarten, MD, MPH; Ann Christiansen, MPH; Amy Schlotthauer, MPH - Emergency Medicine

Making Milwaukee Smile ($446,519)
This project will implement a major recommendation of the oral health action plan, Healthy Teeth = Healthy Kids to provide primary, secondary and tertiary level care by a consortium of organizations utilizing a school-based oral health care model.

Community Partners: Children's Health Alliance of Wisconsin; Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Dental Center; Columbia St. Mary's; Marquette University School; Milwaukee Health Services Inc.; Milwaukee Public Schools; Southeast Dental Associates

Academic Partners: Earnestine Willis, MD, MPH; Tifany Frazer, MPH - Pediatrics

Nurturing Healthy Youth Leaders Through Faith-Based Partnerships ($450,000)
This project will expand a successful faith-based partnership to increase leadership capacity and address health needs of Milwaukee youth through mentoring programs with lay health advisors.

Community Partners: Holy Cathedral Church of God in Christ Word Hope Ministries; City of Milwaukee Health Department; Greater Bethlehem Temple Church; Christ Temple Church of God in Christ; Ebenezer Church of God in Christ; Mason Temple Church of God in Christ; New Hope Missionary Baptist Church; Parklawn Assembly of God; Cross Lutheran Church; Holy Temple First Born Missionary Baptist Church; Liberty and Truth Ministries; New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church; Christ Tabernacle Church of God in Christ; Christ Tabernacle Ministries

Academic Partners: Syed Ahmed, MD, MPH, DrPH; Staci Young, PhD; Melissa Holmquist, MS - Family and Community Medicine

Partnership for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management in Western Wisconsin ($449,730)
This project seeks to impact morbidity and mortality from chronic disease through increased disease prevention and health promotion activities for the mostly rural underserved population in four western Wisconsin counties.

Community Partners: Viterbo University; La Crosse County Health Department; Monroe County Health Department; Vernon County Health Department; Trempealeau County Health Department; St. Clare Health Mission

Academic Partner: Marie Wolff, PhD - Family and Community Medicine

Riverwest Health Initiative (RHI) ($448,961)
Riverwest Health Initiative II will continue its community health improvement process by implementing and evaluating interventions that target health priorities identified in Riverwest's strategic health plan and continue building community health capacity.

Community Partners: COA Youth and Family Centers; Columbia St. Mary's; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee College of Nursing

Academic Partner: James Sanders, MD, MPH - Family and Community Medicine

Salud de la Mujer: Community Developed Materials to Increase Health Literacy in a Latino Community ($449,971)
The primary goals of this project are to increase the health literacy and knowledge of health resources for women and families in a predominantly Latino community.

Community Partner: United Community Center

Academic Partners: Melanie S. Hinojosa, PhD; Syed Ahmed, MD, MPH, DrPH; Linda Meurer, MD, MPH; Melissa Holmquist, MS - Family and Community Medicine

Transforming the Continuum of Behavioral Health Crisis Care: The Milwaukee Crisis Resource Center ($450,000)
The Crisis Resource Center (CRC) will improve the care of people experiencing psychiatric crises by providing recovery-driven, crisis prevention and intervention services, which will empower individuals to achieve and maintain mental health stability.

Community Partners: American Red Cross; Aurora Behavioral Health Services; City of Milwaukee Police Department; Justice 2000, Inc.; Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division; National Alliance of the Mentally Ill of Greater Milwaukee; Our Space, Inc.; Transitional Living Services, Inc.; United Community Center, Inc.; Warmline, Inc.; Wisconsin Community Services, Inc.

Academic Partners: Jon Gudeman, MD; Jon Berlin, MD - Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine

Using Social Network Testing (SNT) to Increase HIV Testing in Vulnerable Populations in Wisconsin ($443,525)
New approaches are needed to identify HIV-positive individuals who have not been previously tested. We propose to expand an existing Social Network Testing (SNT) pilot program to improve diagnosis of HIV in vulnerable populations.

Community Partner: AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin

Academic Partner: John Fangman, MD - Medicine

A School-Based Intervention to Increase African-Americans and Latinos in Health Professions ($50,000)
Little is known regarding effective interventions for increasing the numbers of Latino and African-American (AA) health professionals; we hypothesize that AA and Latino middle school students' interest in the health professions will increase following a school-based intervention.

Community Partner: Milwaukee Public Schools

Academic Partners: John Meurer, MD, MBA; Tarik Walker, MD, MPH; Laura Cassidy, PhD - Pediatrics

Building Capacity for Promoting Population-Based Prevention Strategies in Wisconsin ($50,000)
The goal of this project is to build capacity within Wisconsin's independent public health institute so that it can best carry out its mission of inspiring Wisconsin's business and policy leaders to adopt effective population-based prevention strategies.

Community Partner: Institute for Wisconsin's Health, Inc.

Academic Partner: Timothy Corden, MD - Pediatrics

Caring for Those Who Share: Improving the Health of Wisconsin Blood Donors ($49,959)
This proposal aims to identify and prevent treatable disease in prospective Wisconsin blood donors who are not allowed to donate because of anemia, through the use of an interventional tool and increased awareness about the need for further evaluation.

Community Partners: National Anemia Action Council, Inc.; Blood Center of Wisconsin

Academic Partners: Kenneth Schellhase, MD; Anne Marbella, MS - Family and Community Medicine

Circles of Sisters: Enhancing Family Development with Doula Care for Beloit Teen Mothers and their Children ($49,501)
This planning project will develop community partnerships and conduct a needs assessment to explore the feasibility of implementing a doula program for teen mothers in Beloit in order to address health disparities and increase maternal and child health.

Community Partners: Beloit College; Community Action - HUB Connections; Family Services of Southern Wisconsin & Northern Illinois, Inc.; Beloit Area Community Health Center

Academic Partners: Emmanuel Ngui, DrPH, MSc; Alicia Cortright, MPH - Pediatrics

Fostering Hope ($50,000)
The project aims to improve the foster care model by developing teams from faith communities that assist quality foster parents in their vocation, thus decreasing their attrition rate and consequently enhancing the well-being of youth in foster care.

Community Partners: Colarelli Family Foundation; Children's Service Society of Wisconsin; Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare; Children's Hospital and Health System

Academic Partner: Lynn Sheets, MD - Pediatrics

School Nursing: The Tipping Point for Health for Vulnerable Families ($50,000)
School nurses are pivotal to helping students and families address health concerns and establish lifelong healthy behaviors. This project builds a diverse and knowledgeable school nurse work force, concentrating on the needs in Milwaukee Public Schools.

Community Partners: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Milwaukee Public Schools

Academic Partners: Syed Ahmed, MD, MPH, DrPH; Staci Young, PhD - Family and Community Medicine

The Great Lakes Environmental Health Project ($39,760)
This project will empower WIC families to reduce exposure to environmental health risks through health assessment and educational initiatives that will ultimately reduce health disparities in children.

Community Partners: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; West Allis Health Department

Academic Partner: Earnestine Willis, MD, MPH - Pediatrics

The Medically Fragile Foster Child - Improving Health Status Through Education and Community Linkages ($50,000)
This project will identify gaps in knowledge, communication, and system navigation among medical providers, families and child welfare workers serving medically fragile foster children, toward creation of a curriculum to improve skills and cross system collaboration.

Community Partners: Milwaukee Child Welfare Partnership for Professional Development; Helen Bader School of Social Welfare; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare; Department of Health and Family Services

Academic Partners: Elizabeth Moberg-Wolff, MD; Maria Ocasio-Silva, MD - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; Dawn Bragg, PhD; Lisa Zetley, MD - Pediatrics

The Wisconsin Community Health Worker (CHW) Network ($49,912)
This project will establish the Wisconsin Community Health Worker (CHW) Network to cultivate training and networking opportunities for CHWs and their supporters throughout Wisconsin.

Community Partners: Northern Wisconsin Area Health Education Center; Wisconsin Area Health Education Center

Academic Partner: Earnestine Willis, MD, MPH - Pediatrics

Well City Milwaukee: Creating a Workable Plan to Evaluate a City-Wide Worksite Wellness Initiative ($49,996)
Well City Milwaukee will assist employers to deliver results-oriented wellness programs as a strategy to enhance the health and wellbeing of their workforce, manage health care expenditures and raise awareness of the importance of healthy lifestyles.

Community Partners: YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee; City of Milwaukee; Greater Milwaukee Committee; Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce; Wellness Council of Wisconsin

Academic Partner: Jane Morley Kotchen, MD, MPH - Population Health

Wisconsin Well Water: Planning Web-based Resources to Promote Safe Drinking Water for Wisconsin Residents ($50,000)
This project aims to increase the capacity for systematically delivering information to support household water management decisions among Wisconsin residents that are responsible for their drinking water safety with a goal of reducing water-related illness.

Community Partners: University of Wisconsin School of Nursing; Central Wisconsin Groundwater Center

Academic Partners: Syed Ahmed, MD, MPH, DrPH; Melissa Holmquist, MS - Family and Community Medicine

Visit the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin web site for more information.

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