Knox Community Hospital

Volunteers remained active in specific areas of the hospital, providing needed services such assisting visitors at the front desks of the hospital's three main buildings, assisting patients in surgery waiting, managing the two gift shops and assisting in the center for cancer care. Funds raised through the gift shops provide health care scholarships to local students. A total of 62 volunteers served 10,661 hours during the year.

Kch has strong partnerships with the nursing schools in the area colleges/universities, and toward that end, provided clinical supervision and precepting for students. The total number of students' clinical hours in 2024 was 15,196, with additional 2,234 hours of job shadowing, as well. Since kch is the only hospital in the county, this is critical to help support these students' goals and to help meet the shortage of nursing staff that is evident both locally and across the country.

According to the community health assessment conducted in 2024, 23% of respondents rank chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer, and strokes) as a top community health concern. One community member stated, "most people don't know they have heart disease." respondents reported that they believe the top issues for chronic diseases are poor diet/obesity; alcohol/tobacco/substance use; lack of affordability; older homes.to help increase awareness of possible heart disease and access to care, knox community hospital conducted 20-minute heart checks for a total of 46 community members, at a greatly reduced fee of $20 per person. In addition, to increase cancer awareness and prevention, one of our efforts included a campaign regarding the importance of colon cancer screenings. Held during march, colorectal cancer awareness month, the hospital used website, social media, press release, flyers and more to encourage the community to pick up free colon cancer screening kits and return the samples for testing in our labs. A total of 400 kits were picked up and 215 kits were tested in the lab.clinical staff from both diabetes education and stroke prevention programs shared educational resources with 150+ senior citizens at the senior resource day held in september 2024. The half-day community event was sponsored by knox county task force for older adults. Information was shared about cancer, diabetes prevention, heart disease prevention, substance abuse, stroke awareness, and more during the city of mount vernon's "first friday" events (held monthly from june through september). During november, diabetes awareness month, the following methods were used to increase awareness and educate our community: social media posts, press release sent to media and published on website, streetlamp banners in downtown mount vernon. Obesity is an ongoing problem for the community according the community health needs assessment, and often becomes more challenging when combined with one of the above-mentioned chronic diseases. In an effort to reduce this number and support the local schools' athletic programs, kch provided athletic training during the school year in 2024 for a nominal fee at danville, utica,, fredericktown, east knox, mount vernon and centerburg while also donating $221,776 worth of our trainers' time. In the fall of 2024, kch also donated $7,000 toward the purchase of bikes, a bike rack and helmets for local grade schools through a united way of knox county program called all kids bike. This partnership includes a training program for the gym teachers of those schools to help teach kids bike use and safety.mental health and substance abuse continue to be a top priority concerns identified through the community health assessment. When kch see patients with a mental health or behavioral health condition and/or diagnosis, we often collaborate with other organizations to serve this population. For example, through our emergency department, once a patient has completed the necessary medical screenings, crisis assessment may be handled by a partnering organization such as behavioral health partners, to determine the next steps. In addition, since substance abuse may be combined with mental health concerns, kch may refer to new vision (medically stabilized withdrawal treatment) or the freedom center for additional treatment, if appropriate. However, during 2024, kch conducted a broad-based educational campaign to increase awareness of the withdrawal treatment services offered at new vision.classes / support groups were held to support the need for patients and their families to be involved in their care and understand the nuances of certain conditions. Some of those classes included bariatrics (weight management), childbirth education classes, and lactation support for new parents, to name a few. In the latter part of 2024, attendance at these classes increased. The childbirth education classes are critical for our rural population due to the lack of education for many. These free classes offer expectant parents' information about labor and childbirth, as well as basics of caring for a newborn. Approximately 100 people participated in the childbirth classes. Staff hours to prepare and deliver this material totaled about 53 hours for the year. Expenses for these classes averaged $343 per class.the american red cross relies upon knox community hospital to host blood drives regularly to support its efforts to maintain adequate blood supplies. During 2024 through ten blood drives hosted in the education resource room at kch, a total of 300+ units of blood* was collected from 300+ people. This space is rent-free to the red cross, amounting to 80 hours of free space usage during the year. *this estimated number of units is based on one unit per person, while we know that some do "power red" donation which may count for more units. This is conservative estimate only.heart health is a critical concern throughout the knox county community, and kch provides a cardiovascular department that is an accredited chest pain center. Since heart failure and heart attacks are often related to other chronic conditions such as obesity and substance abuse (prevalent per the community health needs assessment), kch provides related education at area events throughout the year. Our stroke prevention coordinator, amanda wells, leads the hospital's nationally recognized stroke prevention program, and participated in the health & safety event for amish in september 2024, serving up to 150 people with stroke prevention and awareness resources. Held annually in july, the knox county fair is very popular and well attended. Kch sponsored the fair with a booth set up for 2 days attended by staff from various service lines at the hospital. All shared health information related to those common conditions, with approximately 3,000 members of the community. Educational materials handed out included weight management, women's health, diabetes prevention/awareness, early heart attack care, how to find a primary care doctor, substance abuse awareness, and more. Supplies for the fair totaled approximately $400.during 2024, in partnership with wclt-t-100 fm radio station, we sponsored a "health minute" program featuring various medical experts from kch, providing health-related information to the community through a two-minute recorded radio interview. The station has a wide listening area among adults over age 35, and topics included: primary care/family medicine, weight management, wound care, podiatry, athletic training/fitness, substance abuse prevention & treatment, and pain management. We then post the recorded message on the kch website for additional reach.under the direction of mid-ohio corporate care, which is a partnership with area employers, kch provided wellness activities and resources to 1,000+ local employees representing at least a dozen different knox county employers. These activities and resources included flu clinics, ergonomics training, walking challenge, healthy eating presentations, wellness tips via newsletter, and more. In may, 2024, the knox county safety council consisting of about 60 area employers, held their annual wellness event at kch where the hospital provided health related information in person and through educational materials for over 12 different services, as well as cholesterol and bp screenings.