Community Building and Leadership Activities

Bridgeport Hospital is one of the largest employers in the City of Bridgeport and therefore has taken a leadership role in improving the health in the community it serves. There is considerable research linking the impact of socioeconomic conditions to one’s health. Social determinants of health include housing, education, employment/employability and neighborhood conditions. In Fiscal Year 2010, the Community Building activities that Bridgeport Hospital provided totaled $477,300.

• The Hospital’s Community Advisory Committee helps to establish and maintain a dialogue with the various constituencies served by the Hospital for the betterment of its patients and the community.
• The members of the Bridgeport Hospital community volunteer department continue to support the Hospital’s effort to provide excellent care through the work of its many volunteers. During FY 2010, 460 volunteers contributed more than 58,000 hours of service to the Hospital.
• The Hospital developed a unique program called the Bridgeport Hospital Adopt-a-Block Community Partnership, which is part of an effort launched last year to implement measurable and sustainable quality-of-life enhancements in the neighborhoods directly surrounding the Hospital. Over 900 neighborhood residents received invitations to attend three Hospital-sponsored meetings. FY 2010 meeting topics included tax preparation assistance and information regarding vaccines and nutrition.
• Hospital leadership continued to participate on two City of Bridgeport Neighborhood Revitalization Zone strategic planning committees serving the East End and East Side of Bridgeport. These committees were formed as part of an ongoing citywide urban renewal effort and have resulted in comprehensive plans for community enhancement for the neighborhoods.
• Bridgeport Hospital sponsored two blood drives in FY 2010 in which 90 donors participated. As many as 261 people benefited from the donations.
• A school supply drive was held at the hospital for students at the Hall Elementary School. Hospital employees contributed notebooks, binders, backpacks, rulers, packages of paper, crayons and pencils and other items to help assist the 265 students to begin their school year. The Pastoral Care Department sponsored a holiday toy drive for children in the Hospital’s Bridgeport East End neighborhood. More than 200 toys, games and books were donated by Hospital employees during the drive.