Guardian Angel Fund Breaking Barriers
With a generous gift from donors Tracy and Richard Wilken, St. Luke’ s Foundation established the Guardian Angel Fund in 2014. The fund provides qualifying, low-income CHI St. Luke’ s Health patients in the Greater Houston Area with financial assistance to access much-needed care they might otherwise not receive. Since its creation, along with the ongoing support of the Wilkens and many other donors, the fund has had a life-changing impact on nearly two dozen patients in need of treatment. Patients with cancer, asthma, heart arrhythmias, joint disease, cataracts, and hypertension have all benefited from the fund.
Health Informatics Training Program Data Connections
With an ever-increasing volume of patient data now available, the need for specialized training to understand how to analyze and use that information to provide better care has become paramount. Now, a cohort of 21 doctors, nurses, and other CHI St. Luke’ s Health professionals are learning to analyze and use data from electronic health records to improve patient outcomes, thanks to gifts from The Cullen Trust for Health Care and the MD Anderson Foundation. CHI St. Luke’ s Health is partnerning with the UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics to develop a unique Health Informatics Certification program. In addition to four online courses, the CHI St. Luke’ s curriculum includes a practical, hands-on project. The yearlong certification program will continue with a new set of students in early 2017.
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