St Lukes Episcopal Health Charities

Programs: St. Luke's episcopal health charities (the charities), a separate entity of the st. Luke's episcopal health system, was founded in 1997. The charities brings together the healing ministries of the episcopal diocese of texas and the st. Luke's episcopal health system. The charities promotes community health across the diocese and targets the prevention of disease among the underserved. St. Luke's episcopal health charities report 2012 year in review operations charities participates for the third year in the center for houston's future annual indicator report director, dr. Patricia gail bray and several members of her staff have written a chapter exploring the impact of education on health that was published in the center for houston's future's 2012 indicator report. This annual report uses key metrics to help the eight-county greater houston region measure progress over time in key areas. Charities collaborates with texas a&m school of rural public health (srph) to expand project safety net charities staff members dr. Jeanne hanks, and valerie mattice ausborn, attended the practicum fair at srph. Students interested in a practicum experience at the charities were invited to provide a resume and schedule an interview. The practicum students will work with dr. Hanks and valerie to expand project safety net to the 57 counties of the episcopal diocese of texas. Sharing community health leadership expertise nationally the robert wood johnson foundation asked dr. Bray, and director for the charities center for collaborative leadership and grantmaking, celene meyer, to review nominations for the foundation's annual community health leadership awards. The robert wood johnson foundation awards ten $125,000 awards to unrecognized community health leaders each year. This is the second year dr. Bray and mrs. Meyer have been invited to be part of the robert wood johnson foundation review process healthy living matters: connecting policy to the future the charities continued its work as an active member of the healthy living matters collaborative. Called together with a $2. 5 million grant from the houston endowment, this group is a multi-sector, public/private partnership of local leaders committed to obesity prevention. The charities helped to determine the mission, scope and operation of this two-year planning initiative to curb childhood obesity in houston/harris county through policy action for system and environmental change. Hpv immunizations services on project safety net project safety net added human papillomavirus (hpv) immunizations to the list of searchable services on the navigation web site. The addition of hpv immunizations to project safety net enables community health workers to easily identify nearby clinics that can provide this important immunization. Harris county healthcare alliance request for proposal review committee dr. Jeanne hanks served on the grant review team for the community clinic funders' collaborative. This collaborative is administered by the harris county healthcare alliance and is entrusted with making strategic investments from a pool of funding established by twelve local philanthropic and corporate organizations. Alliance member community clinics and partner entities compete for funds through a competitive request for proposals process. Successful proposals will strengthen and support the primary care safety net system in houston/harris county. Project safety net, breast health portal showcased at statewide community health workers conference in august, ms. Lyn widlaski, executive director of the breast health collaborative of texas, presented information about the charities' project safety net and the breast health portal to the community health workers conference in san marcos, texas. National journal manuscript review dr. Patricia gail bray was invited to review a manuscript that was submitted to the johns hopkins journal, progress on community health partnerships: research, education, and action. The manuscript was entitled "health needs assessment in partnership with community and community based organizations" with mohammad mahmood as the contact author. The journal is multidisciplinary and includes articles about research, education and program evaluation that use the principles of community-based participatory research to stimulate changes in health policy and practice. Lectures at ut school of public health dr. Jeanne hanks was a guest lecturer for the introduction to management, policy and community health class at university of texas school of public health. She provided an overview of the "safety net" system in harris county and the potential impact of the 1115 medicaid waiver and the affordable care act on the availability of health care for uninsured and underinsured individuals. The class participated in a lively discussion about the need for safety net care, the disparities in access experienced by low-income people, and the health systems used by other counties. Linda highfield, phd, ms, director of quantitative research, gave a brown bag lecture at the university of texas school of public health on june 1, 2012. Dr. Highfield was invited to discuss her experience working in community health practice. The lecture was part of the division of management, policy and community health's seminar series which features guest speakers throughout the year. The seminar was entitled "research approaches in community health practice: applied examples from the field. " the seminar provided examples of the charities' approach to community health and a discussion of the research-practice divide. Center for houston's future summer salon panel members of the healthcare, business, and education communities gathered to discuss key findings about the link between education and health. The briefing and subsequent dialogue, hosted by center for houston's future, was the second of the center's summer salons, which connect cross-sector leadership to develop concrete solutions that improve the region's sustainability and competitiveness. The panel, hosted by dr. Patricia gail bray and moderated by ken janda, president & ceo of community health choice, inc. Focused on the findings of the 2012 community indicator report on human capital development and education. The session examined the powerful connection between education and health and the role our schools play in preparing children for academic success and healthier lives. Center for community based research national environmental public health presentation charities director of qualitative research karen jaynes williams, phd, mhsa presented at the national institutes of health-national institutes of environmental health sciences' (niehs) partnership for environmental public health (peph) conference march 7-8, 2012 in washington, d. C. Peph brings together scientists, community members, educators, healthcare providers, public health officials, and policy makers in advancing the impact of environmental public health research at the local, regional, and national level. Dr. Williams presented with john sullivan, ma, co-director of the public forum and toxic assistance, niehs center in environmental toxicology at university of texas medical branch in galveston. Their presentation titled, "theater of the oppressed: a tool for equal power sharing in creating partnerships, mobilizing local knowledge, and speaking to power" will teach participants to use techniques to generate new knowledge around specific conditions of concern across community, academic, and policy sectors. Appointment to university of texas school of public health charities director of quantitative research linda highfield, phd, ms was appointed to the faculty at the university of texas school of public health. Dr. Highfield's appointment is in the division of management, policy and community health within the community health practice specialty. Dr. Highfield's first course is co-taught with laura mckieran, drph, associate professor, san antonio regional campus at the university of texas health science center at houston. This graduate level course focused on community health assessment methods and had 30 doctoral students. Dr. Highfield also taught mixed methods research for community health practice, focusing on the real-world application of mixed methods research in health practice. The eight doctoral students in her class worked on a semester long project to design a proposal for primary data collection for the breast health collaborative of texas which focused on evaluating the engagement of the collaborative's 500 + members from across texas. National community partner forum john m. Cooks, research associate, attended the national community partner forum hosted by community campus partnerships for health (ccph) december 5-7, 2012 in boston, ma. Mr. Cooks represented st. Luke's episcopal health charities and the galveston island community research advisory committee after being selected throug