Article found on Washington Business Journal, here.
By Caitlin Lyons – Special Projects Editor, Washington Business Journal, Sep 25, 2024
Women’s Health Advocate: Kelly Sweeney McShane
Kelly Sweeney McShane has been building a robust set of services for moms and babies over the past decade as president and CEO of Community of Hope. Sweeney, who’s helmed the D.C. nonprofit since 2001, leads the organization’s three federally qualified health centers.
In 2022, Community of Hope opened the District’s first free-standing birth center in Northeast D.C. The three-story, 20,000-square-foot building saw 837 prenatal visits and 300 births in 2023 — a 65% increase from 2022. Ninety-one percent of newborns were born at a healthy birth weight and 90% were born at full term, representing 1 percentage point increases over 2022 in both metrics, crucial measurements that can have significant bearing on long-term health and development. Community of Hope also saw gains in cervical cancer screenings. Seventy-six percent of women of age within its patient population were screened last year, a 9 percentage point uptick over the previous year.
The nonprofit also hit new milestones in 2023 with the launch of the Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program at two health centers and added a third earlier this year, collectively serving over 1,100 community members in the first half of 2024.
COH also spearheaded a new program dubbed Housing Our Newborns, Empowering You (HONEY) for pregnant homeless people. The program served 50 people in the first six months of the program launch in 2023. About a quarter of the people served have been in their third trimester without previous prenatal care.
Kelly Sweeney McShane
President and CEO, Community of Hope
- Age: 58
- Residence: D.C.
- Education: Bachelor’s in government, Harvard University; MBA, Georgetown University
- Family: Husband Kevin McShane and three adult children
- First job:Â Peace Corps in Sierra Leone
Editor’s note: The Washington Business Journal is pleased to present the honorees in our Innovators in Health Care awards. Click here to see the other honorees.
