Community Stories
Uplifting accounts of prevention and wellness in the community
Uplifting accounts of prevention and wellness in the community
Scripps is committed to expanding our scope of community benefit through key partnerships with organizations that share our dedication to improving the health and quality of life for San Diegans. From collaborative programs that address obesity and diabetes, to raising awareness about youth cardiac screening and mental illness, to providing support and case management services to medically fragile homeless patients, to educating physicians and youth interested in medicine. These programs and partnerships are vital to making our community a healthier place.
The following stories provide a closer look at the positive impact Scripps continues to make beyond our hospital walls to ensure the health of our overall community.
Promoting healthy nutrition within Scripps and in our community
Scripps is dedicated to improving health by addressing food insecurity and promoting nutrition through impactful programs. Celebrating 50 years of WIC (Women, Infants and Children) and 40-plus years of Scripps Mercy’s involvement, Scripps serves 6,200 women and children monthly with prenatal care, breastfeeding support and nutrition education.
Our partnership with Mama’s Kitchen delivers medically tailored meals to congestive heart failure patients, reducing hospital readmissions and enhancing quality of life. The Live Fit Su Vida Su Corazon Healthy Living Program is an educational-based community intervention program that supports low-income, diverse racial and ethnic communities in San Diego diagnosed with heart disease and hypertension.
Additionally, CalFresh screenings at Scripps Mercy San Diego integrate food assistance into health care, connecting patients to vital resources for better health outcomes.
Scripps helps families thrive
Scripps helps families thrive
Scripps Mercy Hospital has overseen the administration of the WIC Program for 47 years. The Scripps Health WIC program operates storefront WIC offices that are in the neighborhoods of Linda Vista, City Heights, National City and Chula Vista.
Scripps provides bilingual (Spanish-speaking) and culturally-sensitive registered and degreed dietitian nutritionists to assist families with young children with personalized learner-centered nutrition education, breastfeeding support, social welfare referrals and the redeemable electronic voucher for basic food staples, including 1% milk, low fat yogurt, whole grains, and fresh fruits and vegetables.
“In addition to nutritional education, we are also a listening ear for our patients,” said Susan Amador, a 40-year WIC nutritionist. “Sometimes they need the support and acknowledgement that they are doing a great job as a parent. We provide empathy and understanding to the family situation.”
Scripps Health CalFresh screenings
Community health needs assessments have emphasized the importance of safety-net programs for economic stability and highlighted ongoing challenges related to food insecurity in our community. Food insecurity has far-reaching health implications, contributing to issues like poor mental health, diabetes, hypertension, pediatric asthma, and adult oral health problems.
Programs such as CalFresh aim to address food insecurity by increasing food budgets and ensuring access to fresh and nutritious food. In San Diego, over 1.35 million individuals are enrolled in safety-net programs like Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and CalWORKs, with CalFresh playing a crucial role in providing healthy meals to low-income households each month.
Scripps hospitals are proactively addressing food insecurity among individuals to improve their health. The Public Resource Specialist (PRS) Team is dedicated to screening and enrolling patients in CalFresh, a program that helps people access food. Integrating food assistance into healthcare settings encourages eligible residents to sign up for food support as part of their patient care plan.
Mama’s Kitchen medically tailored meals
Mama’s Kitchen medically tailored meals
The Scripps-Mama's Kitchen Medically Tailored Meals Post-Discharge from Heart Failure Hospitalization is a pilot study that aims to provide meals and an individualized medical nutrition therapy intervention.
In collaboration with Mama’s Kitchen, Scripps Mercy aims to improve healthcare outcomes and reduce hospital readmissions within 12 weeks for individuals diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) in San Diego County. The goal is to empower individuals to effectively manage their CHF, with a focus on enhancing patient longevity, symptom control and overall quality of life.
Congestive heart failure patients admitted to Scripps Mercy Chula Vista and Scripps Mercy San Diego are eligible for recruitment to the Mama’s Kitchen-Scripps Pilot Study. Clients are randomized into a 12 weeks of meals only group, or the meals and registered dietitian group. This partnership highlights a commitment to comprehensive care and improved health outcomes for individuals dealing with congestive heart failure.
Live Fit suite of programs
The Live Fit Su Vida Su Corazon Healthy Living Program is an educational-based community intervention program that supports low-income, diverse racial and ethnic communities in San Diego diagnosed with heart disease and hypertension. This program offers wellness and exercise sessions, educational workshops, nutrition guidance and other services to enhance health maintenance and disease prevention.
The cardiometabolic educational programming, branded under the Live Fit suite of programs, includes Project Dulce, Dulce Digital, Healthy Living and Su Corazon Su Vida. Education and support outreach is provided to those already living with heart disease and other related chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Transportation service improves health care access
The total cost of missed health care appointments in the United States every year is an astronomical $150 billion. For millions of patients across the country, arranging transportation to a medical appointment presents a challenge. To help address this transportation barrier, Scripps entered a partnership with Facilitating Access to Coordinated Transportation (FACT) Inc., a local non-profit organization. FACT provides transportation for San Diego residents in need by coordinating on-demand rides for patients. This collaborative service has quickly proven to be a reliable, convenient and cost-effective solution to one of the most difficult and expensive challenges in accessing medical care: transportation.
Expanding graduate medical education programs, expanding care
Expanding graduate medical education programs, expanding care
A key component of Scripps mission is to advance the education of physicians and health care professionals and sponsor graduate medical education. By investing in these areas, we help secure quality care for our community. Scripps Health is known for providing high quality and patient-centered care, with a long legacy of improving the health of the San Diego community. That legacy is strengthened by training new physicians to be future leaders in medicine through its Graduate Medical Education (GME) program.
Today, Scripps GME program spans all five hospital campuses and Scripps Clinic. There are residency programs for internal medicine, family medicine, transitional year, pharmacy and podiatry and fellowships and subspecialty training in internal medicine, family medicine, cardiology, dermatology, podiatry, hematology/oncology, orthopedics, trauma, pharmacy, palliative care, emergency and surgical critical care, gastroenterology, endocrinology as well as research-focused programs. These programs are renowned for their commitment to excellence and feature a hands-on curriculum that places a strong emphasis on patient-centered care.
Scripps GME programs serve our community in two equally important ways: providing much-needed medical care to the diverse patient population of San Diego County; and developing the talent and skills of new leaders in medicine, who together with Scripps will continue to break new ground in innovative, compassionate medical care.
Scripps GME programs also care for underserved populations throughout the region. While Scripps allows trainees the flexibility to pursue their own interests, a core tenant of the program is giving back to the San Diego community — in particular, underserved patient populations. Outside the walls of Scripps hospitals and clinics, GME residents teach and mentor high school students, and the program recently began volunteering with San Diego Refugee Tutoring. Program participants also provide vaccines to nonprofits that help people experiencing homelessness or domestic violence.
In Fiscal Year 2024, Scripps enrolled a total of 165 medical residents, 49 fellows across the Scripps health system, underscoring our commitment to medical education and community health care.
Driving diabetes care and prevention with a bilingual approach
Driving diabetes care and prevention with a bilingual approach
Each year, thousands of people learn to manage their diabetes effectively through the education and counseling provided by the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute. Group classes held in English and Spanish cover all aspects of diabetes care, including, diet, lifestyle, blood sugar monitoring, medications, coping skills, insulin management, technology and more. Individualized nutrition consultation and meal planning are also available. Scripps has been awarded full recognition by the Centers for Disease Control as a National Diabetes Prevention Program provider, a national initiative developed to help prevent diabetes.
“I decided to enroll because I knew it would be good for me,” said Hector Nunez, who was informed by the program that he had diabetes. “I knew that it was best for me, and that I needed to learn the right way to continue to live my life.”
In addition, the Woltman Family Diabetes Care and Prevention Center in Chula Vista — home to Scripps’ portion of a countywide Diabetes Prevention Program aimed at reducing the risk for developing type 2 diabetes — serves one of San Diego’s communities hit hardest by the diabetes epidemic. This center offers a full range of wellness, prevention, diabetes education and nutrition services in English and Spanish.
Raising stroke awareness and prevention in the community
Stroke is a serious and potentially deadly medical condition. Scripps sponsors a wide variety of stroke related education and awareness programs. Team members provide stroke risk and blood pressure screenings along with BE-FAST education and tips to maintain a healthy blood pressure. The BE-FAST screening tool is a straightforward way to recognize and remember the signs of stroke. The acronym stands for Balance, Eyes, Face (ex. drooping), Arm, Speech and Time. Scripps Stroke Program is actively involved in the San Diego County Stroke Consortium/Stroke Advisory Committee, a county-wide stroke group focused on coordinating stroke care. They lead efforts to promote a unified message about seeking emergency treatment for stroke symptoms in the community.
Helping keep seniors on their feet
According to the National Council on Aging, falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries for older Americans. One in four Americans aged 65+ experience a fall each year; every 11 seconds, an older adult is treated in an emergency department for a fall.
Understandably, many older adults have concerns about falling and restrict their activities. Scripps educates older adults countywide on preventing falls through exercise and taking proactive safety measures in the home. “A Matter of Balance” is an eight-week program on practical strategies to manage falls, improve safety awareness and utilize available resources to promote independence and overall safety. Scripps physical therapists and physical therapy student volunteers provide fall risk assessments and lead balance classes to help enhance stability, posture and coordination.
Screening athletes for sudden cardiac arrest
Screening athletes for sudden cardiac arrest
Every year, three to five student athletes in San Diego County die suddenly and unexpectedly from sudden cardiac arrest, an abnormality in the heart’s electrical system that can happen without symptoms or warning signs. But this life-threatening condition can be detected with a cardiac screening exam.
Scripps Health is raising awareness of sudden cardiac arrest in young people through sponsorship of the Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation. This program helps to prevent sudden cardiac arrest and death in middle and high school aged children, including underserved areas in San Diego County, through awareness, education and action. Volunteers from Scripps, including physicians, nurses and echocardiograms techs screen students throughout San Diego County.
Helping people with mental issues find employment and care
Brett was an art major when the voices started. Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, he struggled to come to terms with his illness. “I didn’t accept that I was ill for several years,” Brett said. Today, Brett is hard at work supporting Scripps Mercy Hospital’s billing and reimbursement team.
Rose “Posey” Hagarman, who has lived with major depression most of her life, became a master’s-prepared surgical ICU nurse. “I was devastated when I couldn’t continue that job after a stroke,” said Posey. “Through the years I tried a lot of different things that didn’t work. And then, there was this beautiful program called A-Visions. Some people are just dropped onto the street after their initial treatment. But here, they lift you up.”
These two stories and countless others are all thanks to A-Visions, an innovative and nationally recognized work program launched in 2002 by Jerry Gold, PhD. Along with therapy, A-Visions empowers people like Brett and Rose to secure volunteer or paid employment at Scripps and other organizations.
Paid A-Visions candidates typically limit their work to eight hours per week. This schedule allows them to maintain their disability benefits, medications and medical care that enable them to work.
“Some candidates have lengthy commutes to work,” said Kevin Wilson, program lead for A-Visions. “That’s how much they value what they do.”
“A-Visions has been a joy for me,” said Janice Shivers, whose major depression has waxed and waned throughout her life. “I work part-time in health information, and I love what I do. I just opened a new bank account with my paycheck, and the teller said, ‘Oh, I love Scripps.’ It makes me feel so good to know that I’m a part of this organization. I’ve had my job for four years — the longest I’ve ever worked any one place.”