Mankato Clinic Foundation Grant to WellShare International
The Mankato Clinic Foundation awarded $35,000 to WellShare International to continue its community health worker (CHW) hub in downtown Mankato. Community health workers connect patients and families to needed resources, services and support to help them improve their health.
Community health workers are trusted community members who bridge the gap between healthcare providers and patients. They address social determinants of health such as culture and language gaps, housing, income, food security, employment, health insurance, transportation and more.
To match patients with community health workers, Mankato Clinic launched Project Well-Being. Once a year, Mankato Clinic patients complete a form that asks if they have concerns about food, money, transportation, housing, bills, job loss, legal issues, racism and health insurance. If they have one concern, they can choose to see a community health worker. There is no cost to complete the form or to receive services from a CHW.
Denisse, Project Well-Being and WellShare client, says: “I am so proud of who I have become, and the life I have created for myself and my daughters. I could not have done this without the life-changing support I received from WellShare through the Mankato Clinic’s Project Well-Being.”
“A person needs more than healthcare to be healthy. When people are struggling to meet basic needs, facing culture and language barriers, or lacking health insurance, it’s difficult, at best, to put their health first,” says Nicole Krenik, RN, Mankato Clinic Family Medicine Clinical Manager and Project Well-Being Lead. “Community health workers can connect people to services and resources to stabilize their lives and build a foundation for better health.”
In 2021, the Mankato Clinic Foundation and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota partnered with WellShare International to establish a community health worker hub in Mankato. With initial and continued funding, the hub has grown to serve Greater Mankato with seven community health workers. In 2024 thus far, they served 234 patients and solved 247 long-term social determinants of health issues.
Free to patients, community health workers help:
- Bridge culture and language gaps
- Enroll patients in programs and benefits
- Connect patients to resources
- Navigate healthcare, county and school services
- Explain health education and support treatment plans
“Project Well-Being and community health workers are life-changing for the patients we serve.” Evan Curtin, Regional Director, WellShare International says. “Community health workers improve chronic disease management, increase healthy behavior and reduce hospitalizations, health crises and costs. We help people lead happier and healthier lives.”
“In addition, the Mankato hub is driving innovation and sustainability across WellShare International. We are leading pilots and pioneering models in the Twin Cities Metro,” Curtin adds.
While most referrals to WellShare community health workers are from Mankato Clinic, the local CHW hub is open to people who receive care elsewhere. Since 2021, the Mankato Clinic Foundation has granted $127,831 to WellShare International to serve Greater Mankato.
