As a faith-based nonprofit, it is crucial we responsibly manage our financial and community resources to fulfill our Mission. To thrive, Texas Health must connect and build strong relationships with many stakeholders who affect how we deliver care — from physicians to public health agencies to policymakers, industry associations and health-related nonprofits.

Texas Health actively participates in more than 25 local, state and national healthcare industry associations, including the American Hospital Association, Premier Inc., Healthcare Leadership Council, Texas Hospital Association, Dallas-Fort Worth Business Group on Health and the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council. We are also actively involved with several regional chambers of commerce, diversity councils and healthcare collaborations throughout North Texas. We improve our understanding of trends affecting health outcomes, service delivery results and care costs through ongoing dialogue.

Texas Health values the opportunity to align its Mission, Vision and Values to support positive, constructive community engagement. As a nonprofit organization and community servant, we spread support throughout our service area by actively engaging and building strong relationships with key business, industry and community stakeholders who impact the communities we serve. We also provide financial support to more than 200 nonprofit organizations and associations through our Community Giving Program, which has contributed nearly $10 million over the last five years alone.

Through strategic giving, we give priority consideration to programs and events that:

• Aim to improve access to healthcare services.
• Advance medical or healthcare knowledge.
• Enhance the health and well-being of the communities we serve.

We encourage employees to be actively involved in North Texas communities by helping them contribute their time, talents and expertise to organizations that align with our Mission, Vision and Values.

Our Community Time Off (CTO) program compensates every participating full and part-time employee for one regularly scheduled workday each year to provide community service at any nonprofit organization within our 16-county service area. Their work includes providing hands-on assistance to transforming underserved neighborhoods, building homes for those in need and offering free health screenings. The CTO program allows every Texas Health employee to serve our communities' diverse needs any day of the year.

In 2020, we amended our policy to allow virtual volunteering opportunities and physically distanced clinical service projects (for example, flu vaccine clinics, health screenings) to protect our employees’ safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2009, we have provided the equivalent of $2.1 million in service to our communities through this program.

Texas Health is launching a new community engagement strategy that reinforces our commitment to racial equity and helps develop a workforce and leadership pipeline that reflects the demographic composition of the communities we serve. As part of our social responsibility priorities, we are working to align our organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategies to support vital community outreach goals, as well as increase employee recruitment, retention and engagement. Our current efforts include:

STEM Healthcare Initiative

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 77% of U.S. jobs will require technology skills and 60% of Texans ages 25 to 34 years old will need a post-secondary credential to be gainfully employed by 2030. Research by the Communities Foundation of Texas found that of the 5.5 million students enrolled in public education, 60% are economically disadvantaged and do not have exposure to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curriculum or understand its impact on their career path.

To provide North Texas students with the skills to meet current and future workforce demands, Texas Health is piloting an initiative with the Dallas Independent School District’s (DISD) Pathways to Technology and Early College (P-TECH). P-TECH is a national public-private partnership that blends classroom learning with workplace experiences to allow youth to earn both a high school diploma and an associate degree in a specific discipline, such as healthcare.

Thousands of students across the district have the opportunity to participate in various P-TECH programs based on their interests. In 2020, the school district approached Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas about starting a pilot healthcare pathway program at Dr. Emmett J. Conrad High School, in a Dallas neighborhood near the hospital known for its large immigrant and refugee population.

District and school leaders met with officials from Texas Health Dallas, Texas Health Resources University, Community Affairs and Human Resources in 2020 to establish goals, highlight high-demand allied health professions, identify ways to engage students, map their careers and determine workplace learning opportunities. Long-term, our vision is to replicate this model in other North Texas school districts.

New Diversity Leadership Program

To help drive our equity work, we are piloting a new internal program to advance diversity, equity and inclusion at Texas Health by providing a diverse group of underrepresented employees with leadership development and civic learning opportunities. Participants will also have an opportunity to learn from key business, industry and nonprofit stakeholders about the importance of social and racial equity in North Texas. Through this program, participants will:

• Learn about critical healthcare issues and social responsibilities important to achieving Texas Health’s long-term sustainability, Mission and Vision.
• Connect with a diverse group of upcoming leaders and highly motivated individuals to promote conversational learning, share resources and collaborate on ways to meet key business and community objectives across channels, functions and business units.
• Create positive change and apply new skill sets, knowledge and resources to their respective roles, workplaces and community.
• Examine strategic business issues such as consumer data and insights, product development and innovation, and racial equity and healthcare disparities.
• Learn about the effects of toxic stress and trauma on employees to improve morale and job satisfaction, reduce burnout and improve retention.
• Build a think-tank of individuals to spark innovation, drive best practices, develop strategies and implement solutions.
• Promote and elevate diverse voices to sustain an inclusive, empowered and engaged workforce.

As a nonprofit health system, Texas Health provides at least 5% of net patient revenue back to the community in the form of charity care and community benefit to:

• Care for and treat uninsured and underinsured patients.
• Absorb any medical costs not reimbursed by Medicare or Medicaid.
• Invest in community health initiatives through community benefit grants and sponsorships.
• Finance internally driven community health programs.
• Volunteer our employees' time and resources to support important health-related causes.

Texas Health makes additional investments in North Texas communities to reinforce our commitment to well-being in the form of sponsorships. While the pandemic restricted our ability to host or sponsor in-person events, we found creative and meaningful ways to continue delivering support.

For example, we launched a cause-related social media campaign to drive double value. Instead of hosting live events to celebrate our new Texas Health Breeze Urgent Care™ clinics’ grand opening, we provided incentives to consumers to take a brief virtual tour to share the facilities’ unique look, feel and experience. For each video viewed online, Texas Health pledged to donate $1 to the North Texas Food Bank to help feed families in need during the holidays. At the end of the campaign, we donated $20,000, which provided enough meals to feed 60,000 North Texans.