Since getting its start as Goshen Hospital Association in the early 1900s, Goshen Health has committed to providing innovative, outstanding care and services – guided by its values of compassion, accountability, respect, and excellence – to improve the health of the communities it serves. With this drive to positively impact the community, Goshen Health found that it shared values with GreatNews.Life and formed a partnership with GreatNews.Life in 2024 to propel its mission forward.
“Our shared commitment to fostering a supportive and respectful environment made this partnership a perfect fit for us,” said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dan Nafziger. “By working together, we can amplify our efforts to promote well-being and highlight the positive impact of compassionate care in our community.”
Boasting a colleague group of almost 2,000 individuals, a talented medical staff of nearly 300 physicians, and nearly 130 advanced practice professionals – including nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and more – Goshen Health has a great capacity to care for patients across its five counties and over 40 locations. With Cancer Care, Heart & Vascular, Orthopedics, Primary Care, Emergency Care, Urgent Care, Home Care & Hospice, Rehabilitation Therapy, and a host of other services, Goshen Health delivers quality care to patients with a variety of health needs. It is this impressive range of services that Dr. Nafziger attributes as a major factor in Goshen Health’s widespread success.
“In many ways, we resemble other community health systems, but I think that some of our programs like the cancer center, heart and vascular services, and orthopedics, really help distinguish us,” Dr. Nafziger said. “The cancer center, in particular, has a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach that's really been attractive to patients and has brought patients in from a broader area. The quality of the services we provide and the personal care that patients receive throughout their experience with our health system have helped us grow our services and serve as many different areas as we do.”
Beyond Goshen Health’s day-to-day health services, the organization is committed to listening and engaging with the community to offer programs that best serve the community. Many initiatives stem from the results of their Community Health Needs Assessment, which is completed every three years. Priority health needs are identified that help guide Goshen Health in establishing partnerships and services that address key health issues such as mental health and obesity.
Programs range from broad-based community health initiatives to targeted outreach efforts. Goshen Health advocates for mental health through programs such as Mental Health Matters and a Community Brain Health Challenge; promotes increased opportunities for physical activity through their Park Bench Fitness and Run the Halls initiatives and supports efforts to increase access to healthy food through Summer Health Lunch Bunch, Sprouts Kids Club and gardens in both the community and local schools.
“In the last two years, we have been focusing on new strategies to help positively impact both obesity and access to healthy food through a grant received from the Indiana Department of Health. Targeting census tracts that were identified as having a high Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) score, we worked with community partners and different organizations to implement several initiatives,” said Community Engagement Manager Stacy Bowers. “Our mobile garden program increased from 7 sites in 2023 to 17 sites in 2024. We increased the number of tower gardens in local schools from 11 in 2023 to 27 in 2024. We’re committed to continuing to expand these as well as our other programs to additional community members in 2025.”
Chief Nursing Officer Julie Crossley looks forward to propelling the momentum of Goshen Health’s community engagement by spreading the word through GreatNews.Life.
“We're always looking for ways to better engage with the community. The GreatNews.Life platform – and its stories of hope, healing, and health – gives us an opportunity to showcase the exceptional care that we provide here at Goshen Health. It felt like a natural next step as we're looking for more collaborations and a broader audience to build deeper connections and trust with the community,” Crossley said. “At the end of the day, having a trusting relationship is foundational to all of the work that we do to improve health. We look forward to how GreatNews.Life will highlight our shared values and commitment to excellence as we aim to strengthen those relationships.”
Through the sharing of Goshen Health’s positive stories on the GreatNews.Life platform, Crossley hopes to increase the community’s familiarity with Goshen Health and alleviate any anxiety people may feel in seeking medical help.
"At GreatNews.Life, we believe in the power of positive storytelling to uplift and connect communities," said GreatNews.Life Executive Director Jenny Craig-Brown. "Our partnership with Goshen Health is a perfect example of how sharing impactful stories can build trust, inspire hope, and highlight the incredible work being done to improve lives. I am thrilled to collaborate with Goshen Health to amplify their commitment to compassionate care and create meaningful connections with the community they serve."
Discover all that Goshen Health has to offer its communities by visiting its website here.