HJBR Mar/Apr 2023

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  MAR / APR 2023 43 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalBR.com have had many food insecure community mem- bers interested in our program but were unable to attend due to Our Lady of the Lake North being far from where they lived,” said Tiffany Wesley Ardoin, MD, Geaux Get Healthy clinical program director and internal medicine physi- cian. “We are hoping to provide an opportunity for these people along with those in need in the Gardere area in south Baton Rouge with this new Silverside location.” Geaux Get Healthy is a project of the mayor’s Healthy City Initiative (HealthyBR) and is a coali- tion of local organizations working collabora- tively to make fresh food affordable and accessi- ble, to develop sustainable programs to reduce food insecurity in our community’s highest-needs neighborhoods, and to co-create a thriving local food landscape. Geaux Get Healthy clinical program partici- pants receive three free cooking classes, a gro- cery store tour, one free nutrition class with a reg- istered dietician, a free Top Box of food, a gift card to Dollar General, and connection to other community resources. The program is ongoing, and eligible partici- pants can join at any point. Learn more about the Geaux Get Healthy clinical program at healthybr. com/ggh. $3MGrant for Community HealthWorker Training Program to Provide Jobs Statewide The Louisiana Primary Care Association (Baton Rouge), DePaul Community Health Centers (New Orleans), and Southeast Louisiana Area Health Education Center (Hammond) have partnered with Louisiana State University, Delgado Com- munity College, and the Louisiana Association of Community Health Network to offer paid training for nearly 300 individuals to begin careers as com- munity health workers (CHWs). CHWs serve as a culturally sensitive bridge to connect patients to care networks and local ser- vices in urban and rural communities. They help to reduce social determinants of health (SDOH) and can advocate for individual and community health needs by meeting patients where they are in order to conduct preventative health screen- ings and provide referrals to federally qualified health centers when needed, increasing health literacy and reducing emergency department visits. DePaul Community Health Centers (DCHC), which will coordinate the training, has gar- nered success with its nearly five-year old CHW program. For example, Healthy Blue and Anthem Med- icaid partnered with DCHC to launch a SDOH incentive program on April 1, 2020 with two CHWs to serve the health plans’ members and connect them to care, thus improving their health outcomes. During the initial year (2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CHWs conducted more than 400 member assessments and made more than 500 referrals to the right places for help. Funded by a three-year, $3 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administra- tion, individuals who participate in the program will be trained to fill CHW roles at the 39 feder- ally funded, private, nonprofit and public com- munity health centers and lookalikes across the state that are members of the Louisiana Primary Care Association. Beginning Spring 2023, courses will take place locally or online for the 280 trainees in partnership with Louisiana State University’s Louisiana Com- munity Health Outreach Network (LaCHON) and Delgado Community College. Trainees with at least one year of experience in some healthcare fields will be directed to LaCHON’s 80-hour pro- gram while those new to the field will be required to enroll in Delgado’s 180-hour program. Trainees will be offered a stipend, materials, and technology as part of this program. Fifty-three of the 280 trainees will be placed in apprentice- ships, and 210 will find employment in the field. Apprenticeship sites will offer on-the-job train- ing and mentoring. The apprenticeship sites will work toward accreditation with the Area Health Education Centers. Trainees will have a 1200-hour requirement. These trainings will allow those within vulner- able communities to receive certification and higher education opportunities at little to no cost to them while also providing a path toward health access for all regardless of their ability to pay. For more information, contact Erica Rose-Crawford at ecrawford@lpca. net or sign up for updates at lpca.net/ community-health-worker-training-program. Elevance Health to Acquire Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE: ELV) and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana announced that the companies have entered into a defini- tive agreement through which Elevance Health agrees to acquire Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana (BCBSLA). BCBSLA will join Elevance Health’s affiliated Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield family of brands. The combination builds on the existing collab- oration in Louisiana through joint ownership of Healthy Blue, which serves Medicaid and Medi- care Dual Eligible members. It will also accelerate BCBSLA’s strategic evolution to improve access, affordability, and quality of services delivered by BCBSLA to the more than 1.9 million mem- bers they serve with capabilities developed by Elevance Health and its healthcare services organization, Carelon. With more than $4 billion invested over the past several years, Carelon delivers behavioral health, complex and chronic care programs, and innovative digital models. “Elevance Health and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana will combine strengths to pro- vide services unique to the needs of Louisiana to better serve members through a whole health personalized approach,” said Gail Boudreaux, president and CEO, Elevance Health. “As orga- nizations aligned in our missions, we are excited at the opportunity to bring our leading, innova- tive whole-health solutions to BCBSLA’s members as we work together to become a lifetime, trusted health partner.” “Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is a strong and vibrant company with a history of serv- ing Louisianians for almost 90 years. However, to remain strong in today’s environment with an ability to provide leading innovations, products and capabilities, we concluded that we needed a partner that could help us deliver these faster and better than we could alone. Aligning with Elevance Health — a national health care orga- nization that has been our trusted partner since 2017 — will allow us to accelerate our mission of improving the health and lives of Louisianians,” said I. Steven Udvarhelyi, MD, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana. Like BCBSLA, Elevance Health believes