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Peekskill, NY – HRHCare Community Health, a nonprofit, New York State-licensed, federally qualified health care organization that provides primary care and other health services to underserved communities in the Hudson Valley and Long Island, is pleased to announce that Jessia Leonard, an EMR trainer, has earned its 3rd quarter 2015 Planetree Award for Innovation in Patient Care. The HRHCare Planetree Institute, established in 2012 to train HRHCare staff to deliver empathetic, patient-centered health care services, confers the innovation award on employees who develop ideas resulting in significant improvements for patients and coworkers in areas such as access to care, quality of care, special needs, safety, efficiencies and cost savings, and the work environment.
Ms. Leonard has won the prize for her acquisition of a toll-free vanity phone number for HRHCare (844.HRH.Care). The number facilitates patient access to care, giving patients an obvious, easy-to-remember way of contacting their healthcare team and the organization. It also strengthens the HRHCare identity, giving the organization a phone number that spells out its name and brand and “acts as an ambassador,” according to Reverend Jeanette Phillips, Executive Vice President of Community Development and an HRHCare Founding Mother.The number has been in service now for almost two years. When Jessia acquired it, she was the assistant manager of the I.T. department and co-administered the organization’s VoIP phone system. HRHCare was leasing a more generic 800 number only valid in New York State. To gain control of that number and expand patients’ toll-free access to HRHCare, the organization would have had to buy a bundled Web domain package from the owner of record for $36,000, representing 10 years of potential income to the owner. “That wasn’t gonna happen,” Jessia laughed. Neither could HRHCare reasonably purchase another suitable, existing toll-free number. They were all spoken for.
Then Jessia got a tip. Through conversations with an HRHCare phone vendor, she learned that a new toll-free code, 844, had been authorized by the FCC’s Wireless Competition Bureau. In October 2013 she pre-ordered for a nominal fee 844.HRH.Care and a second 844 number. If hers was the first request for the numbers, Jessia would win the right to purchase them outright in December, when the new exchange went live. “I was so happy to win the bid,” Jessia said. “An organization like HRHCare, with its important mission, deserves a recognizable number, and its patients deserve uncomplicated access to quality care. For about $200, I was able to buy 844.HRH.Care and a second, backup vanity number and transfer them [to the organization]. It worked out well.”
“It was through Jessia’s insight and action that HRHCare now has this branded number,” said Katherine Brieger, Chief of Patient Experience and Staff Development, who nominated Jessia for the Innovation Award. “It gives our patients an easy way to contact us, and it gives us an effective way to market to patients.”
Jessia has been with HRHCare for three years. She has extensive writing, editing, and information technology experience and a master of arts in teaching from Boston University. She grew up in New York City.
About HRHCare
HRHCare (Hudson River HealthCare, Inc.) is a nonprofit, New York State licensed, Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Founded 40 years ago to provide care to the medically underserved population of Peekskill, New York, HRHCare is now one of the nation’s largest community health providers. From the Capitol Region to the East-end of Long Island, HRHCare’s network of 26 health centers provides affordable, accessible care to more than 135,000 patients through 500,000 visits annually. Our more than 350 primary care practitioners and 700 specialists and support staff have made HRHCare a destination for high-quality and compassionate care for all.
As HRHCare has grown it has retained its core values of community and compassion. Excelling in patient care, HRHCare provides comprehensive services to anyone who walks through our doors. HRHCare’s health centers provide primary and preventative treatment including adult and pediatric care; obstetrical and gynecological care; family planning; HIV counseling, testing, and referral; dental services; mental health counseling; nutrition counseling; podiatry; WIC services; health education; and a full complement of outreach, translation, transportation, benefits counseling and health insurance enrollment assistance.
HRHCare has a profound commitment to the communities it serves and works to improve community health through partnerships and collaborations with local community leaders, businesses, social service agencies, housing organizations, food banks, agricultural worker alliances and other local stakeholders. HRHCare believes if it wants to ensure quality care for its patients, it should ensure quality pay for its staff, which is why it provides a minimum living wage of $15 an hour for all employees.
For full information:
Jeffrey Palmer
Public Relations Specialist
914.425.0890
jpalmer@hrhcare.org
