Fierce Heart Award honors two West Michigan leaders

In 2009, The Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC), Michigan’s early childhood authority, established the Great Start Fierce Heart Award. Its purpose is to honor and recognize those who have shown unwavering dedication to the Great Start vision to ensure that Michigan’s children are prepared to arrive at school safe, healthy and ready for success. 
 

Children’s Healthcare Access Programs (CHAP) of Kent County's Program Manager Maureen Kirkwood and Medical Director Dr. Tom Peterson were this year’s honorees.
 

"I am honored to be the recipient of the Fierce Heart award, but feel that it reflects the efforts of many,” Kirkwood confesses. “None of this work would have been possible without the leadership of Dr. Tom Peterson and Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, the support of the First Steps Commission, Priority Health, our funders, ECIC and the hard work of the wonderful CHAP team I am privileged to lead."
 

Using a team approach to providing health care, CHAP ensures that a child has a single place for immunizations, well-child visits and care for acute and chronic illnesses. CHAP also supports physicians who provide coordinated care delivered in a comprehensive and culturally sensitive manner. During the first three years of CHAP of Kent County, the project helped drive down the number of emergency department visits and inpatient hospital admissions of vulnerable children.
 

CHAP works exclusively with children on Medicaid and helps them access quality health care using a more efficient system. In 10 years, from 2001 to 2011, the number of children in Michigan enrolled in Medicaid grew from 23 percent to nearly 40 percent. Today, Medicaid covers more than half of all births in Michigan.
 

Here’s how you can help. Put the good back in do-gooder by getting involved:
 

• LIKE the ECIC Great Start program on facebook

• Learn more about CHAP of Kent County 

• Act now

• Connect with local childhood resources 

• Check out the Great Starts newsletter 
 

Source: Maureen Kirkwood, Children’s Healthcare Access Programs of Kent County

Writer: Jennifer Wilson, Do Good Editor