The Health Foundation of South Florida recently announced that it is investing $2 million in two regional universities to advance health equity in underserved communities in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
Nova Southeastern University and the University of Miami will each receive a $1 million grant to name and launch unique initiatives that will bring together multidisciplinary experts from across their respective institutions and the community to inform the development and implementation of innovative and community-based programs and collect and evaluate data – all aimed at identifying and address the root causes of health inequity across South Florida.
The NSU faculty who were instrumental in securing this funding for the university were Julie A. Jacko, Ph.D., Founding Chair, Department of Population Health Science, Professor, Population Health Science, who is the Principal Investigator, along with Co-Principal Investigator François Sainfort, Ph.D., FACHE, Chair of Management, Director of Complex Health Systems Program, and Professor in NSU’s H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship.
As part of the investment the universities will forge partnerships and coordinate with regional health systems and community organizations to support the adoption of promising interventions.
The award was made to the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine and specifically, to its Department of Population Health Sciences. The grant will involve NSU’s H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship and clinical partners including NSU Health, Memorial Healthcare System, as well as value-based primary care provider Cano Health.
“We believe this is groundbreaking for our region, and an important step toward informing, shaping and implementing population health efforts that can ultimately help us achieve health equity,” said Loreen Chant, president and CEO of the Health Foundation of South Florida.
The investment aligns with all three of the Health Foundation’s three focus areas: working at a systems level to improve access to healthcare in uninsured and underserved communities, advance the integration of social needs and clinical care delivery, and foster economic stability and other community conditions that promote physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
