Momentum of new youth health literacy collaborative model with hospitals and schools continues into first quarter of 2010

NASHVILLE, TN ' HealthTeacher's nine new youth health literacy collaboratives in 2009 accounted for an increase of 172 percent in revenues. These new community health education programs, supported by leading hospitals, extend HealthTeacher's reach into an additional 1,438 schools in nine U.S. markets.

"Health and community leaders are realizing that many of today's youth do not have the foundational knowledge to lead healthy, productive lives. HealthTeacher's growth is because our program matches hospitals' desire to be impactful in their communities with schools' need for current and comprehensive health education resources," says Scott McQuigg, chief executive officer of HealthTeacher. "Schools don't have the money to fund health curriculum so kids don't get the information they need to take care of themselves, many eventually ending up with chronic illnesses. The hospitals that take on that burden of illness are increasingly investing in community wellness programs, and turn to HealthTeacher as a trusted partner in youth health education. Hospitals true to their mission are the ones finding creative ways to fund this important initiative."

HealthTeacher's growth is continuing in 2010 with the addition of new community partner hospitals, such as Lucille Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford and El Camino Hospital in California's Silicon Valley region and The Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado.  

With the addition of new hospital partners during 2009 and early 2010, HealthTeacher's youth health literacy collaboratives are now active in 14 communities across the country, in 2,953 schools and enlightening more than 1.3 million students. These partners include:

·      Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas

·      Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, Florida

·      Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, Bozeman, Montana

·      Children's Hospital & Clinics of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota

·      Community Health Works, Houston County and Bibb County, central Georgia

·      El Camino Hospital, Palo Alto, California

·      Highlands Regional Medical Center, eastern Kentucky

·      Huntsville Hospital Foundation, Huntsville, Alabama

·      Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Palo Alto, California

·      Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

·      Palmetto Health, Richland County, South Carolina

·      Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, Boise, Idaho

·      St. Vincent's HealthCare Foundation, Jacksonville, Florida

·      The Children's Hospital, Denver, Colorado

·      Yavapai Regional Medical Center, Prescott, Arizona

The HealthTeacher program is a natural fit with the community health programs of hospitals, health systems and their foundations as it directly addresses the heart of America's public health future ' its youth, and their lack of understanding how to keep themselves healthy for life. Supporting the HealthTeacher education resources is consistent with hospital missions to improve community health. Not-for-profit hospitals work with HealthTeacher qualifies as a community benefit under the federal tax code. Plus, HealthTeacher aligns to goals of First Lady Michelle Obama's Lets Move! campaign and supports the recent recommendations of the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity on school health.

In support of HealthTeacher's continued growth, eight new staff, including seven educators, have joined the organization. Additionally, HealthTeacher expanded its advisors to include Jeff Andrews, M.D., an Associate Professor of Medical Education and Administration, and the Senior Physician of the Vanderbilt Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, and Becky Smith, Ph.D., the recently retired executive director of the American Association for Health Education. Also, HealthTeacher continues to evolve its education platform, making numerous upgrades to its online resources, including adding anatomy lessons and new assessment tools.

About HealthTeacher
HealthTeacher is a leading provider of online health promotion, disease prevention, social/emotional wellness and safety resources for kindergarten through 12th grade and is used by more than 20,000 teachers nationwide. HealthTeacher provides teachers the resources, tools and background material to educate students about making healthy lifestyle choices through more than 300 lesson plans aligning to the National Health Education Standards. HealthTeacher helps establish community-based youth health education collaboratives by developing partnerships between healthcare organizations, businesses, community leaders and schools to address the growing issues affecting the health status of children. To learn more, visit www.healthteacher.com.

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