Proud to Support our Local Community
Windham Hospital is a strong community partner, offering programs and services that improve the health and well-being of all community members.
A three-year plan to improve our community’s health
Windham Hospital has a plan for improving the health of its community. Read more to learn how the 2022 Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) addresses four areas:
- Promote Healthy Behaviors and Lifestyles
- Reduce the Burden of Chronic Disease
- Improve Health Equity, Social Determinants of Health, and Access to and Coordination of Care and Services
- Enhance Community-Based Behavioral Health Services
The hospital is working with community partners to make measurable improvements in each of these areas. As Joseph Zuzel, regional director for community health, notes: “This CHIP is essentially our call to action over the next three years to do our part to assure those we serve live long and healthy lives. … Even though this work can be overwhelming at times, with important partnerships throughout the communities we serve, success is made possible.”
Read the Improvement Plan >>
Healthy Beginnings Made Easier for Soon-To-Be Mothers
Just weeks before giving birth to her first child, 20-year-old Heidi Garcia Gonzalez had intermittent running water, was unsure if she would have enough food and overall lacked confidence in her ability to succeed as a new mom.
Windham Hospital’s Healthy Beginnings program helped her with:
- Healthy eating before and after birth
- The importance of sleep
- Postpartum depression
- Breast feeding
- Poison prevention
- Water safety
- Finances
- Health insurance
- Housing
- Heating assistance
- Food assistance.
Read the full story >>
Windham hospital holds vaccine clinics
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Windham hospital held testing sites and vaccine clinics for colleagues and families throughout the community. Two years later these efforts continue.
Yolanda Negron of Willimantic received the first vaccine at the East Region Vaccination Clinic at Foxwoods Resort & Casino.
“I feel good,” she said. “I feel relieved. I trust them and I trust the scientists and everyone involved in these vaccines. Don’t be afraid.”
HHC, Generations team up to vaccinate migrant workers
On Waterman Road near the Lebanon-Windham town line is Prides Corner Farms, a sprawling 550-acre property that includes 2,000 varieties of roses, shrubs, trees, grasses, ferns, perennials, herbs, vegetables and berries that are sold to garden centers across the Northeast. Behind the hustle and bustle of this massive operation are 650 migrant workers, some seasonal and some year round, from Mexico and Guatemala. In order to keep this workforce humming along during the pandemic, Prides Corner needed help with vaccinations. Windham Hospital was there to help.
Read the full story >>
Windham Hospital Pitches in to Help Ukrainian Effort
Windham Hospital President Donna Handley presented Pastor Ivan Bilyk of St. Mary's Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Willimantic a donation of $5,000 in support of his congregation and their efforts to help the people of Ukraine.
Windham Hospital’s Mike Davis, Julio Vasquez, Collin Scatena and Chris Bibeau loaded a truck full of items donated by colleagues at Windham to support the Parish Hill Middle/High School’s efforts collecting medical supplies for the people of the Ukraine. Bibeau and his team also helped deliver the supplies to the school, located in Chaplin, where they were greeted by staff members Mark King and Heather Victoria. The supplies were sent to the Connecticut National Guard who helped facilitate getting them to the Ukraine.
Read the full story >>
Marching in the Boom Box Parade
Hartford HealthCare East Region colleagues, their families and their dogs took part in the Willimantic Boom Box Parade on July 4, 2022.
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Celebrating Diversity
As part of its celebration of Juneteenth Day, members of the East Region Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Council (DEIB) were at Windham hospital passing out flyers to raise awareness about Juneteenth and to celebrate the holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
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Partnership with Local High School Connects Students with Healthcare Careers
Team members from Windham Hospital welcomed representatives from Windham High School and the town of Willimantic to the hospital to announce a new partnership between the hospital and the school designed to help get students connected to careers in healthcare.
Aimed primarily at students in the school’s pathways program, the partnership will provide students with curriculum, guidance and support on choosing a career in healthcare prior to graduating.
Read the full story >>
Community Health helps promote community partnership with CT State
The Community Health team took part in this year’s “National Night Out” event at Windham Heights. The Community Health team handed out health resources and educational demonstrations to families.
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Windham Hospital Orthopedic Team Receives Advanced Certification
Windham Hospital earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Advanced Certification for Total Hip and Total Knee Replacement by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards. The certification that reflects their ongoing commitment to providing safe, consistent and quality care for patients.
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Windham Colleagues Save a Life - From the Driveway
The Windham Hospital Emergency Department is of course well stocked and ready for any emergency that comes through the doors. But a recent event also underscored that they are equally ready for any emergency that pulls into the driveway. At around 5 p.m. on June 28, Paramedic Corey Curtis-Gray saw through a window in the paramedic office that a car pulled up just outside the ED, several people got out and all were screaming for help. He ran outside and pulled an elderly woman from the car – saving her life.
Read the full story >>
Columbia Man Says Thanks to First Responder ‘Family’ That Saved Him
A 66-year-old Columbia man suffered a heart attack at home on April 14, 2022. Windham Hospital EMS and emergency department physician Thomas Gilmore, MD. Helped save this life.
Read the full story >>
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Student Volunteer Combines Passion for Art, Healing at Windham
The drawings are simple and the messages are short and sweet. But the handmade greeting and get-well cards that Sophia Kokofski makes one afternoon a week at Windham Hospital speak volumes to the patients and visitors who receive them.
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Paramedic helps save 9-year-olds life
Two Windham Hospital paramedics were instrumental in helping to save the life of a little nine-year-old girl from Coventry. Windham Hospital Paramedic, Ryan Will and several other first responders acted quickly and saved Adriana Kajlik.
This Windham paramedic’s cat survived a tornado and became famous
On June 1, 2011, a massive F3 tornado struck western and central Massachusetts, leaving a 37-mile path of destruction from Westfield to Charlton. One town, Brimfield, was particularly hard hit, with 140 homes either destroyed or damaged.
The following day, as crews were clearing debris, a tiny newborn kitten was found. Brought to the Brimfield fire station, the kitten met Jonathan Hall, a Windham Hospital paramedic who was on duty there at the time. Hall and other EMS personnel cared for the kitten, whom they named Toto, throughout the day, feeding him milk through a syringe. The Animal Rescue League of Boston (ARL) was in town to help with displaced animals, and the first responders turned the kitten over to them for care.
Read the full story >>
Neighborhood Health
The East Region mobile “CareVans” visit and operate daytime health clinics several times a month at specifically chosen locations. They offer a variety of health services including screenings, mental health counseling, medical referrals, education and support. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are also offered at select locations and dates.
Neighborhood Health was developed in collaboration with trusted community partners throughout the state. These groups and individuals helped determine the health needs and priorities for their residents and communities.
Learn more about Neighborhood Health >>
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The Healthy Cooking program
A partnership between Windham Hospital nutrition, diabetes and food services departments, the community health department and CLiCK Kitchen, identifies individuals who would benefit from learning about meal preparation and planning to assist with a diabetes diagnosis.
Individuals participate in a four-session program led by the Windham Hospital food services director and chef where they will prepare four meals to take home for their families, while learning about kitchen and meal preparation, food selection for their diagnosis, and meal planning on a limited budget.
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The Rx for Health program
The “Rx for Health” program has been in Windham since 2021. The goal of the program is to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to low-income families. Local pediatricians identify low-income families with children up to age 18 who are at risk for diet-related health conditions and are not being able to afford fresh fruits and vegetables.
The program supplies families with $126.00 worth of vouchers that can be exchanged for fruits and vegetables at local farmers markets and grocery stores. Nutrition education, as well as recipes, are supplies for families to encourage participation.
Social Worker Goes the Extra Mile to Help a Patient in Need
An East Region social worker helped get stair lift device donated to Willimantic family with multiple cases of muscular dystrophy. Thanks to the help from Jennifer Morrison, a social worker with Hartford HealthCare at Home, the Willimantic Lions Club and one of their members, they were able to help get and install a stair lift to the Willimantic family.
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Supporting Families in Need
Colleagues from Windham Hospital took part in a fun event in downtown Willimantic.
Games for kids, music, dancing, food, and family support service awareness were all part of the event called "Take Time to Play".
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