Community health efforts throughout Allen County continue to be noticed across the country.
The latest comes from “the gold standard” of philanthropic organizations.
Local health officials learned this week that Allen County was chosen as a finalist for the fifth annual RWJB “Culture of Health” prize awarded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, named after one of the founders of Johnson & Johnson, is the largest philanthropic organization in the United States.
Allen County is one of 10 finalists for the Culture of Health award, which have been selected from more than 200 communities across the country. The top prize is $25,000.
The application is a joint project between Allen County Regional Hospital and Thrive Allen County.
“The prize money would be nice,” David Toland, CEO of Thrive Allen County said, “but what’s important is to be recognized on a national level and the other opportunities this would open.”
THE PRIZE is guided by the principle that every community has the potential to improve and be a healthier place to live.
Allen County was required to meet several pieces of criteria: defining health in the broadest possible terms; committing to sustainable systems changes and policy-oriented, long-term solutions; cultivating a belief in the importance of equal opportunity for health; harnessing the collective power of leaders, partners and community members; and securing and getting the most out of available resources.
“This is a validation of a decade of work by hundreds of Allen Countians to turn around our community by focusing on health,” Toland said, noting that over the past 10 years, Allen County has:
— Built a new hospital.
— Passed the first rural Tobacco 21 initiative in the state, when Iola passed an ordinance that prohibits the sale of tobacco products to anybody under 21.
— Constructed more than 20 miles of new recreational trails.
— Helped re-establish the Allen County Farmers Market.
— Recruited the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas to Iola, adding additional doctors, dentists and a psychiatrist.
