News Releases

Value Health Partners, a group of eight Michigan health care organizations includingSpectrum Health, announced the winners of their first Stroke Prevention Student Video Competition. 

The competition was open to high school students in the areas served by Value Health Partners (VHP) member organizations.

• First Place: Kevin Wolfe, Vicksburg High School – $2,500
• Second Place: John Reglin & Alec DeWitt, Rockford High School – $1,500
• Third Place: Andrew Rademacher & Mike Greko,  Rockford High School – $750
• Fourth Place: Jenny McEntee & Erin Oelze, Traverse City East Middle School – $250
• Honorable Mention: Emily Challender & Rey VerStrat, Traverse Bay Area Career-Tech Center – $50

The Rockford High School winners are students of Kris DeYoung. Jason Springer was the video technician who assisted on the project. Prize money is awarded to the student’s school media program. The winning videos can be viewed at www.youtube.com/valuehealthpartners.

In recognition of National Stroke Awareness Month in May, students were encouraged to submit a 30-second public service video that captured the “FAST” message to help the public easily recall stroke symptoms and know what to do.

• Face – Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?
• Arms -Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward
• Speech – Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange?
• Time – If you observe any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Approximately 8,000 patients in the areas served by VHP member health care organizations suffer from a stroke each year. VHP has focused on stroke prevention through a three-prong strategy that encompasses community awareness, EMS standards of practice and Emergency Department process improvements. These three strategies are aimed to improve stroke survival by reducing the amount of time before care is provided at an emergency department.

Spectrum Health also has an online stroke risk assessment posted at www.spectrumhealth.org/strokerisk for people who want to learn their personal risk factors and what they can do to prevent stroke.

More information about stroke is available at www.spectrum-health.org/stroke.

Value Health Partners was formed in 2008 to create greater value for the patients and communities they serve. The coalition’s focus is on:

• Clinical quality and best practices
• Community health improvement programs to address health disparities for at-risk populations
• Advocacy to represent a variety of Michigan communities on policy issues

Value Health Partners includes:

• Allegiance Health System, Jackson
• Bronson Healthcare Group, Kalamazoo
• Covenant HealthCare, Saginaw
• Lakeland HealthCare, St. Joseph
• Munson Healthcare, Traverse City
• Northern Michigan Regional Health System, Petoskey
• Sparrow Health System, Lansing
• Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system in West Michigan offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which includes nine hospitals and 180 service sites; the Spectrum Health Medical Group and West Michigan Heart, physician groups totaling more than 600 providers; and Priority Health, a health plan with 625,000 members. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer with more than 17,800 employees. The organization provided $115.9 million in community benefit during its 2010 fiscal year. In 2011 and 2010, Spectrum Health was named a Top 10 Health System by Thomson Reuters.