Sanford Health Detroit Lakes launches Reach Out & Read
Contact:
Christen Rennich
Sanford Health Media Relations
(701) 200-6080 or Christen.Rennich@sanfordhealth.org
Detroit Lakes, MN, Aug. 6, 2021 — Sanford Health Detroit Lakes Clinic recently launched the Reach Out and Read program to children under five coming in for an annual wellness visit.
Reach Out and Read works with pediatricians and family medicine specialists to provide developmentally appropriate books and coaching to help families with young children make reading out loud together a part of their daily routine.
“Our Sanford providers in Detroit Lakes are excited to introduce this evidence-based model into regular pediatric check-ups,” said Molly Anderson, MD, family medicine physician and chair for this new program at Sanford Health Detroit Lakes Clinic. “By providing books and teaching parents about the importance of reading aloud to young children, we’re further able to support their overall growth and development.”
The Reach Out and Read program begins at the 6-month well-child visit and continues until age five. Families served by Reach Out and Read tend to read together more often and their children enter school with larger vocabularies and stronger language skills, being better prepared to achieve their potential.
“For the past 30 years, the Reach Out and Read model has fostered parent engagement, literacy, and social and emotional development for millions of children and families nationwide,” said Brian Gallagher, chief executive officer of Reach Out and Read. “We are pleased to offer the program to the children and families at the Sanford Health in Detroit Lakes.”
About Sanford Health
Sanford Health, one of the largest health systems in the United States, is dedicated to the integrated delivery of health care, genomic medicine, senior care and services, global clinics, research and affordable insurance. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the organization includes 46 hospitals, 1,500 physicians and more than 200 Good Samaritan Society senior care locations in 26 states and 10 countries. Learn more about Sanford Health’s transformative work to improve the human condition at sanfordhealth.org or Sanford Health News.
About Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read is the only national early literacy organization working directly with pediatric care providers to share the lifelong benefits that result from families reading aloud to their children every day. Reach Out and Read’s 34,000 pediatric clinicians served 4.8 million children and shared 7.4 million books at 6,400 program sites around the country over the last year. Learn more at reachoutandread.org.
