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Forsyth Medical Center's Sara Lee Center for Women's Health will use a grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust of Winston-Salem to improve access to care and increase educational opportunities for the local Hispanic community, the Forsyth Medical Center Foundation announced today. The three-year grant of $247,230 will allow the center to hire a full-time bilingual Community Health Educator who will work to create new health education programs and expand existing programs to better serve the Spanish-speaking population in Forsyth County.

"The Hispanic community is growing so rapidly, we need to adapt our services to keep up," said Karen Bartoletti, director of community outreach for the Sara Lee Center. "In the last 10 years, we've seen the number of births to Hispanic mothers increase 854 percent, and visits to the Emergency Department by Hispanics increase 30 percent. This grant from Kate B. Reynolds will help us refine the educational opportunities we already offer to better serve this population."

According to US Census Bureau figures, the Hispanic population in Forsyth County has grown 1,500 percent in the last 13 years, from just over 2,000 in 1990 to more than 32,000 in 2003. Forsyth County now has the fourth-highest Hispanic population in North Carolina, behind Mecklenburg, Wake and Cumberland Counties. Births to Hispanic mothers at the Sara Lee Center have increased from just 111 in 1992 to 1,317 in 2003. Hispanic membership at Today's Woman Health and Wellness Center (an affiliate of Forsyth Medical Center) has increased from two percent in 1996 to 29 percent in 2003.

Such a dramatic increase in the Hispanic population means a higher demand for basic health information in Spanish. This grant will allow the Sara Lee Center to offer:

The Sara Lee Center for Women's Health is the second largest birthing center in North Carolina with more than 6,500 births annually. It offers a Level III/IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which has some of the highest success rates in the country in caring for high-risk, low birth weight babies. The center also offers a range of clinical and educational services for women at all stages of life.

The Forsyth Medical Center Foundation, established in 1999, is the fundraising arm of the hospital. The Foundation works to support the hospital's mission to improve the health of the community, one person at a time.

The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust was established in 1947 by the will of Mrs. William N. Reynolds of Winston-Salem. Three-fourths of the Trust's grants are designated for use for health-related programs and services across North Carolina and one-fourth for the poor and needy of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.

Forsyth Medical Center is one of seven hospitals that are part of Novant Health, a not-for-profit healthcare system based in North Carolina. In addition to Forsyth Medical Center, other hospital affiliates include Medical Park Hospital in Winston-Salem and Thomasville Medical Center in Thomasville; also Presbyterian Hospital, Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital Matthews and Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville in the Charlotte area. Other facilities and programs of Novant Health include three philanthropic foundations, two nursing home and senior residential facilities, physician clinics, outpatient surgery and diagnostic centers, rehabilitation programs and community health outreach programs.

Novant Health has been nationally recognized as the "Best in Industry for Working Mothers" by Working Mother Magazine and one of the "Top 40 Family-Friendly NC Companies" by Charlotte Parent and Piedmont Parent magazines. Additionally, Novant Health was named to the 2002 SMG Top 100 Integrated Healthcare Networks in the country.