Delaware hospitals get innovation awards

Christiana Care and A.I. duPont Hospital for Children received a combined total of more than $13 million from the federal Health and Human Services Department Health Care Innovation Awards.

Christiana Care received $10 million for its Bridging the Divide Program.  The money will help Christiana create a “patient care hub” system that is designed to improve care for patients with cardiovascular disease.  

“Our work through this grant will result in patients experiencing an improved quality of care and an improved quality of life,” said William Weintraub, M.D.  “The advantage of our proposal is that it is designed to work with existing hospital and office information systems so we can zero in and customize our care of patients.” 

A.I. duPont Hospital for Children will get more than $3.6 million for its program designed to improve outcomes for children diagnosed with asthma.  The funding will help create partnerships between the hospital and community leaders to reduce triggers for asthma in homes, schools, child care centers and other settings.  The hospital’s CEO Kevin Churchwell said, “It will help us continue our long history of meeting the medical needs of children, but it also helps us meet their non-medical needs both in the pediatrician’s office and in their neighborhoods.”

Gov. Markell said both hospitals have a long history of serving the health needs of Delawareans.  He added this funding will help improve those efforts as the health care industry is going through major changes.  “This is one of those times where I really believe that if we’re smart about it, we’re going to be able to improve quality and reduce costs simultaneously.”