Grant Funded Programs

Junior League of New Orleans Community Assistance Grant

In 2018, the Touro Infirmary Foundation received a Community Assistance Grant from the Junior League of New Orleans (JLNO) to launch a Sleep Sack Program for families delivering babies at the Touro Infirmary Family Birthing Center.

Modeling safe sleep should start as soon as the baby is born, and all families, regardless of financial ability should be given the tools to provide their baby with that safety. With support from the Junior League of New Orleans, Touro Infirmary’s Family Birthing Center can ensure that all families learn the importance of safe sleep and leave the hospital with the tools and education they need to create this safety at home.

Despite improvement in recent years, Louisiana continues to have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the United States. SIDS is considered the number one cause of post-neonatal death according to a study from 2010-2012.

Touro Infirmary has been known as the “Place Where Babies Come From” for over 30 years. We serve the greater New Orleans areas with women’s services and are one of the top four hospitals in the state of Louisiana in deliveries. By providing a safe sleep sack to the families, mothers can feel comfortable knowing they are providing a safe environment for their newborn, helping the baby sleep better and safer when possible. This can relieve a small amount of stress and anxiety the mother may experience with a newborn benefiting both the caregiver, as well as supporting physical and mental health. Safe Sleep Sacks will officially be available to patients beginning on November 17, 2018.

We are grateful to the JLNO and the Community Assistance Grant for making this program possible.

Links:

• NOLA.com Article: https://www.nola.com/news/2019/01/new-program-at-touro-aims-to-keep-babies-safe-while-sleeping.html
• Fox8 Segment: http://www.fox8live.com/video/2019/01/03/safe-sleep-program/

American Cancer Society Grant

Transit Touro program

New Orleans is not unique in its transportation barriers for patients seeking medical care regularly. More than 7 million Americans miss medical care every year due to a lack of transportation, according to health economist Paul Hughes-Cromwick. [Can ride-hailing companies cure medical transportation woes?, nola.com, March 7, 2018]. The Touro Infirmary Foundation received a transportation grant from the American Cancer Society (ACS) to fund, Transit Touro, which now allows Touro Cancer Care Center to utilize ride sharing to ensure transportation is not an issue for our patients. Transit Touro is utilizing a healthcare focused platform that puts the power of requesting rides into the hands of our staff to ensure that when the need arises, our patients are taken care of. Now our patients never have to miss an appointment due to insufficient transportation options, missed rides, late rides, taking multiple buses, or coming out of pocket with money that was intended for co-pays, medicine, or other important life necessities. Additionally, missing appointments has significant health ramifications to patients.

After the September 12 launch in 2018, 17 unique patients received 77 one-way rides to treatments. These rides helped increase the ongoing care from Touro without interruption. Patients undergoing treatment for prostate, lung and breast cancer significantly improved their appointment attendance, which improves their quality of care and treatment monitoring.

We are grateful to the American Cancer Society for this grant and all they do to support those battling cancer in the Louisiana.