Texas Health has launched a bold vision to invest in community health improvement by awarding cross-sector collaborative grants addressing local needs in innovative ways.

This initiative is called Texas Health Community Impact.

Texas Health kick-started this effort with a major multi-year financial commitment. We need your help in harnessing the compassion of the entire region to improve the health status of the vulnerable and underserved individuals in our communities.

Why This Approach?

Texas Health Community Impact, together with community leaders, pinpoints specific ZIP codes to address social determinants of health before the resulting problems surface in the form of chronic disease and premature death.

“This is one of our opportunities to play a role in upstream issues that impact health and well-being,” said Catherine Oliveros, Ph.D., Texas Health’s vice president of Community Health Improvement. “Siloed efforts have limited success. If we are really going to transform health and health care, we must transform systems and communities.”

The initiative calls on agencies from different sectors in communities — education, health care, cities, grassroots organizations and others — to unite against identified issues.

“Community Impact is one of Texas Health’s commitments to live our nonprofit, faith-based health system’s mission: To improve the health of the people in the communities we serve,” said the system’s CEO, Barclay Berdan. “It’s said that a person’s ZIP code has a greater impact on their health than their genetic code. That’s why we’re reaching out into the communities we serve and hoping to make a real difference in the health and well-being of people in these areas of North Texas.”

Texas Health Community Impact is a data-driven, outcome-focused, approach.

For example, in Johnson County, the suicide rate among people 55 and older is at 20.1 per 100,000 people, which is higher than the statewide rate of 16 per 100,000. Therefore, the grant in that county helped start programs that assess adults’ mental health, then provide counseling and enrichment activities to combat isolation, giving them tools to fight depression. To address social determinants of health that may lead to depression, navigation to resources and social services, including food security, continues and is even more vital due to COVID-19.

Join Texas Health Community Impact and make a difference in our communities of greatest need.