Engaging the Community at Healthy Start West Valley

Sep 26, 2022

Author: RyLee Curtis

University of Utah Health held its inaugural Healthy Start West Valley event at Centennial Park on August 25, 2022. We provided vision and dental screenings, COVID-19 vaccinations, and health resources, but Healthy Start was more than just a health fair. We acknowledge the role social determinants of health play in a person’s well-being. We partnered with four local schools and the University of Utah Office of Admissions to amplify the role education plays in health outcomes. We also held the event on the same night and location as the new West Valley Farmer’s Market to ensure all attendees were aware of this new resource to gain access to healthy, fresh food.

As we planned the event, a partnership emerged with Granite Education Foundation. They provided high schoolers an opportunity to volunteer at Healthy Start West Valley. That gave us the chance to really talk with these students on a one-to-one level, asking the age-old question, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” and “Where do you want to go to school?” I personally was able to talk with some high schoolers about the new hospital coming to their community, and it was clear they were excited about it. Many of those high schoolers said they wanted to work at U West Valley so they could give back to their community as doctors, nurses, and health workers.

I even had the chance to walk with one of the high schoolers over to the University of Utah Office of Admissions booth. He was interested in what it would take to get into the U and become a student. They were able to answer all his questions and I’m hopeful we’ll see this young leader come through our programs soon. It’s this type of interaction that showcases the importance of bringing University of Utah resources to the community to meet them where they’re at.

More than 30 volunteers from various U of U Health departments contributed their time at Healthy Start West Valley. Among them was Alison Flynn Gaffney, U of U Health’s former interim Chief Operations Officer. She and I walked around to visit with each of the community resource booths. We were able to introduce her to several of our community partners, who expressed to her firsthand their vision for how they would like to partner with the U—and discussed their frustrations. Historically, our hospital has not done a good job connecting with the community at this level. But now we’re working on what it means to be a good partner, acknowledging what assets already exist within their communities, and understanding what resources we can bring to the table.

“So many opportunities were created to connect, build trust, listen, learn, and educate,” Gaffney said. “From various educational booths on topics ranging from transgender care to healthy eating, our Huntsman Wellness Bus providing access to testing, working with Operation Warm to provide free back-to-school sneakers to families with school age children, as well as multiple writing boards dedicated to asking our community ‘What are you looking forward to?’ produced palatable excitement at the inaugural Healthy Start West Valley event.”

“While reading some of the comments, I had one of many a-ha moments that evening,” Gaffney continued. “My focus has been largely on how we create access to a high-quality and innovative care hospital and ambulatory health care center. That must not be defined by us, though, but built with our community in a way that impacts health in real, sustainable, and measurable ways. Our community wants more education and job opportunities within and outside of our health care environment.”

That was perfectly illustrated by a conversation we had with two community health workers from the Multicultural Counseling Center who have been CHWs in Utah for more than 20 years. Within minutes, it was clear that they know everything and everyone, and they were able to talk to us about what it would look like to have a CHW program at U of U Health. With University Neighborhood Partners (UNP), we met some of the West Valley residents serving on the committee advising our hospital build. Frida told us about the promise she made to her grandfather to become a doctor and give back to her community and how fortunate she feels to be a part of the U West Valley Resident and Steering Committees.

At Comunidad Materna en Utah’s booth, we heard about their doula services for Spanish-speaking expectant families. Mayra Sanchez, founder of this nonprofit, had always wanted to have an unmedicated childbirth, but she didn’t get access to a doula until after her sixth child. She felt scared and intimidated by large health systems for those first six childbirths, but after finally feeling empowered for her last three unmedicated births, she said, “I need to give back and help other moms feel empowered.”

Mayra started Comunidad Materna en Utah with seed funding from UNP, and their doulas go out into the community to talk about breastfeeding, prenatal care, motherhood, and childbirth, all for the Spanish-speaking community. They’ve spent more than 250 hours providing classes and support groups, and more than 300 Spanish-speaking mothers have been assisted by her program, all completed by only 10 doulas. Now, because she has met some of our leaders, we’ve arranged for some of their doulas to come and tour our Labor & Delivery Unit at University Hospital. We’ve pulled data on birth outcomes for our Spanish-speaking patients, and we’re looking for ways we can work more closely together.

The School of Dentistry tent was bumping, with kids and families lined up to get free dental screenings. We had all these resources together in a one-stop shop: dental and vision screenings, vaccinations, and interactive opportunities. We were present in the community—interacting with West Valley City Mayor Karen Lang and Granite School District administrators and principals. But best of all, we interacted with children and their families. We got to know them on a level deeper than what we think we know from census data or patient visit data.

That’s what Healthy Start was all about: sharing our vision for U West Valley by having real conversations and meeting the community where they are. That’s so important. The excitement from U of U Health leadership and employees is palpable, and the community has so far been willing to be vulnerable and trust us as we seek to build partnerships with them. Trust takes time, and time means effort. It takes all of us showing up, and I’m committed to doing what I can to continue creating opportunities like Healthy Start West Valley for all of us to build long-lasting partnerships.

Healthy Start West Valley by the numbers:

1,500 attendees
31 booths, including University of Utah Health’s Wellness Bus and Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Mammography Bus
1,000 pairs of shoes donated by Operation Warm
114 vision screenings
70 dental screenings
30+ diabetes screenings
8 mammograms
Hundreds of COVID-19 vaccinations

Partner Organizations and Activations