GIH Bulletin

The 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina was a painful reminder of the multiple ways in which that storm—the worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States—exposed how race and income determine environmental risk.

Health funders pride themselves on being champions of innovation. They strive to discover new and creative models of care that promise to advance the triple aim of improved outcomes, better patient experiences, and reduced costs.

Each June, GIH holds a board retreat that takes an in-depth look at timely issues. This year, the retreat featured board-led discussions of new directions and new thinking in health philanthropy, specifically: 1) moving the discussion of health beyond the health sector, and 2) funders as strategic change agents.

Long-term poverty is the norm in many rural areas of the United States. Coupled with slow (or nonexistent) job growth, limited numbers of health care providers, and other access issues, the result is significant physical, oral, and behavioral health problems.

GIH has many conversations with health foundations and corporate giving programs across the country, helping us gauge the areas in which grantmakers are active. We have identified eight priorities, illustrating the breadth of funder interests.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of National Negro Health Week and the 30th anniversary of the Heckler Report. Both were milestones in the quest for reducing racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care.

This year’s annual conference in Austin, Texas, was a multidimensional exploration of the theme Pathways to Health. Dynamic plenary speakers set the tone, beginning with Patrick Kennedy (The Kennedy Forum)

This January, members of GIH’s board and senior staff visited Havana, Cuba, with MEDICC, an organization licensed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to conduct people-to-people trips to Cuba.

At a recent conference on the science of dissemination and implementation, sponsored by AcademyHealth and the National Institutes of Health, I participated in a panel on the contributions of research to achieving progress in health equity.