Community Health Initiatives

Growing healthy communities

Prisma Health is committed to providing health care services and support to the underinsured, uninsured and medically underserved people in the Midlands of South Carolina. During the last 20 years, our Office of Community Health has invested more than $56 million in health care services.

From Richland Memorial Hospital’s humble beginnings in 1892, to the formation of South Carolina Baptist Hospital in 1914, to the creation of Palmetto Health in 1998 and Prisma Health in 2017, we remain committed to providing high-quality health care to those we serve.

See our 20-year report: Growing Healthy Communities »

Read Our 2019 Annual Report
View our annual reports archive »

Our programs

The Office of Community Health focuses on several initiatives that are strongly committed to improving the physical, emotional and spiritual health of all individuals and communities that it serves to:

• Impact individual health status
• Impact community health
• Provide quality screening and education
• Foster and promote collaboration among various agencies and organizations

Initiatives include:

• Chronic Disease Prevention: This initiative was designed to detect and diagnose chronic health conditions at an early stage of development while providing education and intervention programs to those at risk. The work of this team addresses the chronic health conditions of hypertension, pre-diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, and breast, cervical, lung, prostate and colorectal cancers within the community. Partnerships with schools, faith-based and civic organizations provide comprehensive prevention and screening programs through clinics, health fairs and intervention services with a strong care coordination component.
• Community Health Improvement: This initiative was created to address adolescent health in partnership with school, community and faith-based organizations for youth and adults in Richland and Lexington counties. South Carolina has experienced significant declines in teen pregnancy for the past six years, in part because of initiatives like this.
• Community Partners: Prisma Health funds many outstanding initiatives designed to improve community health. The initiatives selected for funding are approved by the Community Health Committee, a sub-group of the Prisma Health Board of Directors. For people without adequate access to insurance for dental and eye health, please visit WellPartners.org
• Diabetes Health Initiative: This initiative conducts comprehensive screening programs designed to detect and diagnose diabetes at an early stage of development while providing education and programs to those at risk.
• Midlands AccessHealth: This initiative is a health care delivery system designed to improve access to care and improve health outcomes for low-income, uninsured residents of Richland County.
• Midlands Healthy Start: This initiative is a health care delivery system designed to improve access to care and improve health outcomes for low-income, uninsured residents of Richland, Lexington, Fairfield and Sumter counties.