Akron General Medical Center's mission is to improve the health and lives of our patients and community. We strive to achieve this by making available the highest level of care possible, but also by exploring community health needs and meeting them through free and low-cost screenings and by providing in-kind services and support for other community programs.

Community Health Priorities
Community health initiatives support the Akron General Medical Center's priorities in the area of heart and vascular, cancer, trauma and critical care, psychiatry, and maternal and child health. They must meet one or more of the following objectives:

• Reduce the area's infant mortality rate
• Reduce acute illness of those unable to pay for their care through prevention and early intervention
• Reduce substance abuse
• Improve the access to primary health care services for the community
• Reduce trauma injuries through prevention programming and research activities

Community Partnerships to Improve Health
Improving the health of the community is a priority for Akron General Medical Center, but no one can do it alone. The health status of the greater Akron area is tied into medical, social, economic and environmental issues, so our partnerships with Akron area organizations allow us to make a bigger impact together.

Akron General's Community Health Program involves a committee of board members from the community and hospital clinical staff members who work together to identify health needs and develop initiatives that effectively address those needs. By reaching into the community and developing initiatives with area organizations, we believe we can make a difference before health concerns reach critical levels.

Organizations interested in collaborating on a project that improves the community's health, may contact Akron General's Community Health Program Director at 330-344-7101.

CHI Endowment Fund
The Community Health Initiatives Endowment Fund, established in 1998 through donor contributions to the Akron General Development Foundation's Annual Appeal, can provide dollars or other support for collaborative initiatives that improve our community's health. The Fund supports community programming, distributing no more than 10 % of its endowment base in any given year. The Community Health program has evolved since then from one of simply funding programs, to one in which Akron General proactively participates in identifying and addressing community needs. Grant applications are no longer accepted.

Akron General Community Health Initiatives

Ohio School AED Program

Muffins for Mammograms
Akron General's Muffins for Mammograms, now in its twelfth year, continues to provide free screening mammograms for uninsured women. To help offset the cost, Akron General Medical Center, in partnership with Main Street Gourmet, sells and distributes muffins, brownies and cookies during two days in October - National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In 2003, WQMX held their 4th Annual WQMX Bosom Buddies Dinner, which included silent and oral auctions and celebrities to benefit Akron General Medical Center's Muffins for Mammograms program. If you are in need of a screening mammogram and would like more information, call 330-344-BRST (2778). For women who have no insurance, and are in need of a diagnostic mammogram, call Akron General's Social Work Department at 330-344-6880.

Parish Nursing Program

Skins Game
Every spring and summer, Akron General Medical Center, the American Cancer Society and the Dermatological Association hit the links and other sporting events to play the Skins Game - a health initiative to educate the community, and especially golfers, about the importance of skin cancer screenings and prevention.

Smoking Cessation Programs

Community Health Department
Akron General Medical Center
400 Wabash Avenue
Akron, Ohio 44307
330-344-7101