Laural Ruggles, vice president of Marketing and Community Health Improvement at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, spoke to St. Johnsbury Rotarians on Monday (Dec. 16) about NEK Prosper!, a program formed by NVRH and community partners which "has a mission and shared goal of improving the health and well-being of the people in Caledonia and southern Essex counties by integrating" efforts and services, with an emphasis on reducing poverty in the region. Ruggles spoke about Stewardship and thinking about "the community in which we live, work, play; what signs do we see of a thriving community. She asked Rotarians, "In what ways do you/we contribute or ways you can contribute to a healthy community?" From the website: NEK Prosper! operates under the framework of an accountable health community, employs the principles of collective impact, and uses Results Based Accountability™ to measure our progress. An accountable health community is an aspirational model accountable for the health and well-being of the entire population in its defined geographic area and not limited to a defined group of patients. We understand that health outcomes are the product of multiple contributors of health: medical care, public health, genetics, behaviors, social factors, economic circumstances and environmental factors. For more information, go to https://nvrh.org/accountable-health-community/
