GREENFIELD — A second county school district has entered a 10-year commitment with Hancock Regional Hospital.
Greenfield-Central Community School Corp. and Hancock Health recently announced a decade-long, $275,000 sponsorship deal that will name the Cougars’ football field Hancock Health Stadium and permit the health-care system to place signage in athletic areas.
Greenfield-Central Superintendent Harold Olin called the agreement a “win-win” for the two entities, saying the $27,500 per year from the hospital is a lucrative offer.
Like the deal with Mt. Vernon Community School Corp., Hancock Health will provide two digital LED video scoreboards for Greenfield-Central High School’s gymnasium, according to school records.
In addition to naming rights of the football field and placement of advertising in athletic areas, the agreement grants the following, according to Greenfield-Central records:
•Greenfield-Central High School will provide a Hancock Health night at one designated football and basketball game per year, with free admission to all Hancock Health employees;
•The high school will not advertise other health-care services on school grounds during the 10-year agreement;
•The high school will allow Hancock Health to provide athletic training services to the school throughout the duration of the agreement;
•The high school will identify Hancock Health as a corporate sponsor on all sports booklets, and;
•The high school will provide digital scoreboard advertisements for Hancock Health at the stadium and in the main gymnasium.
Hancock Health comprises Hancock Regional Hospital; the Hancock Wellness Centers in Greenfield and McCordsville; and Hancock Physicians Network offices throughout Hancock County. The health system has also announced plans for a low-cost lab facility near the intersection of County Roads 600W and 200N as well as a physicians office and wellness center in New Palestine.
Board member Retta Livengood said she believes Hancock Health and the school district have similar goals for increasing the health of the community.
Olin echoed that sentiment, saying he and hospital CEO Steve Long had been discussing the arrangement for a few months, hammering out the details in the last three weeks.
“We (both) have a vested interest in the wellness of the community,” Olin said.
Greenfield-Central and the hospital have already been working together, with the school district hiring a mental health counselor in partnership with Hancock Health. That counselor, hired as part of an effort to ensure student safety, works on-site with students in the middle and high schools.
