Lakeland Regional Health System
“After exploring many different programs and ideas, the NIH We Can! program was the most inexpensive, viable, and far-reaching solution.”
--Pamela Kurtz, outpatient dietitian and leader, We Can! Healthy Berrien
Overview
On the southern shores of Lake Michigan, Berrien County was swept up in the national wave of We Can! enthusiasm in June 2008 when it became an official We Can! County. It’s been rolling forward with diverse We Can!-based programs ever since. Programming includes a heavy emphasis on walking. In fact, Berrien wrapped up 2008 with a children’s walk to visit Santa Claus at the North Pole. Of course, the walk took them to see a mall Santa, indoors.
"We had a good turnout, probably because we held it indoors," said Pamela Kurtz, local We Can! leader and outpatient dietitian at Lakeland Regional Health System, "Having Santa announce that you had arrived at the North Pole was also a treat." Walk to the North Pole at The Orchards Mall in Benton Harbor is an example of the types of events Lakeland Regional Health System has created with community partners to further the We Can! agenda.
Melissa McGowan of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases presents the We Can! County sign to Richard Bartz, Chairman, Berrien County Commissioners, and Theresa Green, Director Community Health Planning, Berrien County Health Department
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A We Can! Intensive Community Site since 2008, the Lakeland Regional Health System was asked by the Healthy Berrien Consortium (a collaboration of leaders representing local health care organizations) to spearhead its campaign to prevent childhood weight problems in the county.
Lakeland’s active leadership has led to enthusiastic buy-in from a number of key partners across the county. It started with a stakeholders meeting in October 2007, where presenters gained community support for implementing We Can! programming by outlining local challenges and how the We Can! movement could assist in addressing them.
In May 2008, a We Can! summit helped to kick off We Can! Healthy Berrien with the participation of over fifty partners, including county agencies and private companies.
Physical activity ranks high on We Can! Healthy Berrien’s list. The group excels at actively facilitating and attracting participants to a number of community events that include ways to become more active, such as:
Partners of Healthy Berrien’s We Can! programming include local senior centers, supermarkets, pediatricians, and the following:
Among other contributions, partners provide space for and promotion of classes and events, offer their time and expertise for classes, and assist with the recruitment of participants.
Contact Information
For more information on Berrien County’s We Can! platform, please send a letter to:
Lakeland Regional Health System
Center for Outpatient Services
3900 Hollywood Road
St Joseph, MI 49085
For additional contact information, send an email to nhlbiinfo@nhlbi.nih.gov.
We Can!™ is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.