Aspire Indiana Health has been honored with three awards by the Indiana Primary Health Care Association (IPHCA) recognizing the company’s leading role as an innovator and nonprofit provider of comprehensive healthcare services.
“It’s an incredible honor to be recognized by our peers in primary care, especially Aspire’s efforts to reach challenged and underserved Hoosier populations,” Aspire President & CEO Barbara Scott said. “We’re very proud of these team members as well as our entire staff of dedicated individuals, who make a difference every day in the communities we serve.”
Syd Ehmke, Vice President of FQHC Medical Services, was honored with the Debra Meers Grassroots Advocacy Award, which is given to a person who has been a strong voice for community health centers within the state, national legislature and local community.
Ehmke has improved Aspire Indiana Health’s quality program, enhanced community health worker programming, expanded the Harm Reduction Program syringe exchange services in Madison County, strongly advocated for tobacco cessation among those with substance use disorder and most recently navigated Aspire Indiana Health’s telehealth response to COVID-19, including overseeing the sourcing and distribution of more than 40,000 COVID test kits to partners and organizations serving at-risk populations.
Jerry Landers, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, was given the Employee of the Year Award, which recognizes a primary health employee (nonpractitioner) who has demonstrated excellence through 1) patient advocacy; 2) innovative programs/services/systems; or 3) collaborative efforts.
Among Landers’ recent accomplishments are partnering with a school system in a rural part of Indiana to open a medical clinic in a severely underserved community and overseeing the Crowne Plaza Project team for Aspire that advocated on behalf of Indianapolis’ homeless population during the height of the COVID pandemic.
This project, a broad collaborative effort with the city of Indianapolis, was awarded the IPHCA Special Exemplary Project Award, which honors a notable project by a member organization that has demonstrated excellence through 1) advocacy; 2) innovative programs/services/ systems that have increased access, improved health care services to the community, or decreased disparities; or 3) collaborative efforts to reach high-risk populations in the community.
In addition to Landers, the Aspire Crowne Plaza Project team included Amber Gordon, Manager of Social Drivers of Health; Kathleen Bowers, Director of Home & Community Based Services; and Mike Keevin, Vice President of Social Drivers of Health.
The Crowne Plaza Project was an ambitious undertaking involving the city of Indianapolis and a number of government and nonprofit agencies to move homeless individuals into temporary housing and eventually into permanent housing. Launched in August 2020, it was designed to keep homeless individuals who were at heightened vulnerability for COVID healthy and safe.
Aspire Indiana Health was closely involved, using its longstanding expertise in getting challenged and at-risk populations, including veterans, housed in a stable and affordable environment.
Aspire acted to 1) advocate on behalf of the residents and act as mediator between them and the hotel, 2) provide individual case management to link them to other services (primary care, behavioral care, substance use treatment, employment, access to food, etc.), and 3) work with several other agencies to provide housing services including search and placement in permanent housing, access to furniture and support for moving into their new homes.
The result was a significant shift in Indianapolis’ homeless population that had been living on the streets during the COVID pandemic to a more stable indoor living situation on a temporary basis with access to healthcare services, and eventually to permanent housing. The project’s success received notable media coverage.
“It was the relationship and the trust built between Aspire, the other service providers, and ultimately the clients that contributed to the success of the project,” according to the project team. “We helped the residents on an individual level immensely, but we also helped them on a global level by getting all of the entities out there to work together.”
About Aspire
Aspire Indiana Health is a fully integrated nonprofit health system serving central Indiana that addresses behavioral health, primary medical care, substance use disorders, infectious diseases, deaf services, veteran programs, abused/neglected children and social determinants of health such as housing and employment. Aspire is supported by a strong network of community organizations, state/federal entities and generous benefactors. Those interested in partnering with Aspire in making health and well-being a reality in central Indiana are encouraged to email info@aspireindiana.org.