BOSTON — Today the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced partnerships with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and Atrius Health Equity Foundation as part of the administration’s Advancing Health Equity in Massachusetts (AHEM)
initiative, which works to eliminate racial, economic and regional disparities in health outcomes. The partnerships announced today will finance initiatives in Chicopee and New Bedford.These partnerships will fund community-level initiatives that will identify and understand community needs related to maternal health or social drivers of cardiometabolic health. Cardiometabolic disease, which refers to disease of the heart and blood vessels, diabetes, high blood pressure, and chronic kidney disease, is a leading cause of death across Massachusetts. The initiative works to improve health outcomes in 30 communities that have been identified as having the greatest health disparities for maternal health and social drivers of cardiometabolic health.
"While we recognize that disparities in these health conditions occur in these regions, we strongly believe that each community may face different challenges in addressing them, and that requires solutions at the community level,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Kate Walsh. “I look forward to hearing from the programs in the communities, and am grateful to the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and Atrius Health Equity Foundation for their support and partnership that will have a real difference in the lives of people in the communities.”
BCBSMA Foundation has approved $100,000 in funding for the first year of a two-year Strategic Health Equity Grant to the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts. The nonprofit organization will lead a community engagement process in Chicopee to identify and understand community needs related to maternal health or the social drivers of health that impact cardiometabolic conditions and maternal perinatal morbidity. The coalition building work will engage communities of color and other marginalized communities to inform the identification of needs, preferred solutions, and the implementation of those solutions.
“We are pleased to partner with leaders from EOHHS and DPH on a place-based community engagement model that will help advance our shared health equity goals,” said Audrey Shelto, President and CEO of BCBSMA Foundation. “Our grant partner is well-positioned to serve as a backbone organization for the AHEM initiative in Chicopee, and to support community members as they develop solutions to the health disparities in their region.”
“Improving the health and wellbeing of Chicopee residents begins with understanding the issues and complications facing our community,” said Chicopee Mayor John Vieau. “The work sponsored by the BCBSMA Foundation and performed by the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts will help us to determine the best way to positively affect the health of our residents.”
In southeastern Massachusetts, Atrius Health Equity Foundation is committing $500,000 over two years to establish Youth Creating a Healthier New Bedford, a youth-led initiative that empowers young people in New Bedford to identify the social drivers impacting cardiometabolic health, engages them in developing a shared agenda for promoting community health and wellness, and supports them as emerging leaders. The Foundation is partnering with SouthCoast Community Foundation to support and convene local organizations to align efforts for broad, sustainable support for the initiative, while helping integrate other areas such as the arts, environmental sustainability, and community development to foster long-term transformative change in the community.
“Our Foundation’s mission is to close the life expectancy gap across Eastern Massachusetts. We’re pleased to invest in organizations working to build a stronger, healthier New Bedford by supporting a future generation of youth leaders,” said Ann Hwang, MD, president of the Atrius Health Equity Foundation.
“The SouthCoast Community Foundation is pleased to be a strategic partner to this effort,” said Dr. Melanie Edwards-Tavares, President and CEO of the SouthCoast Community Foundation. “This investment, which is a testament to the power of collaboration and community-driven solutions, builds on the strengths of New Bedford and our dedicated and talented youth.”
The partnerships with Atrius Health Equity Foundation and BCBSMA Foundation are the first of many partnerships AHEM seeks to create with the private sector partners to address health inequities.
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