Catholic-sponsored programs stress importance of childhood health

Published: 2006-06-08

ORLANDO, Fla. (CNS) -- The spotlight was on children at the Catholic Health Association's annual assembly in Orlando June 6, as a Catholic-sponsored program in South Carolina received the organization's achievement citation and another in Oregon was featured in an "innovation forum." The achievement citation, presented to exceptional programs that deliver measurable results in their communities, went to Healthy Learners, a project begun 14 years ago by Providence Hospital in Columbia, S.C., and its sponsor, the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, based in Cleveland. Since its founding, Healthy Learners has provided health screenings -- vision, dental, psychological and medical -- to more than 30,000 students and direct health care services to more than 10,000. Earlier June 6, a convention workshop session -- or innovation forum -- focused on Success by 6, an initiative aimed at reducing child abuse and neglect in Oregon's Lane County. Now a program of United Way of Lane County, Success by 6 began in the late 1990s after the Oregon region of PeaceHealth, a Catholic health system sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, convened a group of community leaders to discuss how to address the problem.

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