Ascension St. Vincent in Evansville and Perry County Memorial Hospital (PCMH) are pleased to announce the finalization of their management services agreement (MSA) first announced in January 2019. This MSA provides PCMH and Ascension St. Vincent the opportunity to enhance and expand services, ensuring members of the Perry County community have access to the care they need, close to home.  

With aligned missions and shared philosophies on delivering quality, compassionate and personalized care, Ascension St. Vincent and PCMH are committed to working collaboratively for the benefit of patients and their families in the surrounding communities. “The affiliation with Ascension St. Vincent provides PCMH access to a successful and large national healthcare system’s resources and expertise,” stated Brian Herwig, President and CEO of PCMH. “These resources enable PCMH to continue to focus on improving patient access to primary care and specialty physician services, improving our operating systems, lowering our healthcare costs, and establishing a strong, local referral option for patients needing additional specialized care.”  

Michele Howard, Vice President of Nursing Services, said: “Having a clinical affiliation with a larger hospital brings the sharing of best practices to improve patient safety and the overall patient experience. Our goal is to be the healthcare provider of choice for our community, and this agreement will help us in accomplishing just that.” 

The agreement does not involve the purchase of assets, and both systems will remain independent while working collaboratively with physicians, clinicians and other providers delivering care for Perry County and the surrounding communities. PCMH will continue to be governed by its local hospital board of directors and led by its existing administrative team.

“This new management agreement continues to strengthen our commitment to providing local access and exceptional care to Perry County,” said Dan Parod, President of the Southern Region for Ascension St. Vincent. “Ascension St. Vincent and PCMH are strategically working together to seek innovations in care, improve quality and provide greater access to the services Perry County residents tell us they need.” 

J.B. Land, PCMH Board Chair, said: “We are pleased to have officially signed the management services agreement with Ascension St. Vincent. The affiliation will allow us to provide additional medical services to the citizens of our community while continuing to offer the high-quality healthcare that everyone

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FSSA announces recipients of early education capacity-building grants
Over $870,000 in funding will increase high-quality early childhood education in counties where On My Way Pre-K is newly available 

INDIANAPOLIS—Indiana’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning recently awarded early education capacity-building grants totaling more than $870,000 to 14 applicants representing 19 prekindergarten programs in 13 Indiana counties. All recipients are located in counties whose residents are eligible for the On My Way Pre-K program for the first time in the 2019/2020 school year. On My Way Pre-K was expanded statewide as a result of House Enrolled Act 1628, signed by Governor Eric J. Holcomb in May of 2019.

On My Way Pre-K is Indiana’s state-funded prekindergarten program for low-income children. The program, which is free to families who qualify, is currently enrolling eligible 4-year-olds for the 2019/2020 school year. Families may check eligibility and apply here.

The capacity-building grants are awarded to early learning providers and county coalitions to serve more prekindergarten children and increase the quality of early education opportunities provided in Indiana.

The following applicants were awarded funds:

Capacity-building grants may be used for the following purposes:

• Training and professional development of teaching staff;
• Classroom materials that demonstrate increased outcomes for children or increased instructional practices for educators;
• Evidence-based curriculum or instructional materials including professional development for teaching staff to utilize the curriculum;
• Family engagement activities or materials and/or marketing and communication materials; and
• Other relevant needs to help expand capacity and/or improve quality programming to help programs reach Paths to QUALITYâ„¢ level 3 or 4, which is the requirement for a provider to be eligible to be an On My Way Pre-K provider.

Grant awards are for one year with the option to request a no-cost extension if additional capacity-building activities remain that have not been completed after one year. Nonprofit applicants interested in receiving funding for items not allowable had the opportunity to apply for a limited pool of separate grant funding from Early Learning Indiana. 

All applicants were required to secure matching funds—between 5 and 50% of total budget—from local businesses or other stakeholders who will benefit from the community improvement associated with these capacity-building grants.

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