Strong Communities
Mass General is pushing the boundaries of community care.
Since its inception, Massachusetts General Hospital has been deeply committed to caring for communities. In fact, it’s written into our founding documents: “When in distress, every man becomes our neighbor.”
This clarion call is more than a poetic phrase; it’s also a smart strategy for solving the world’s most pressing health care challenges. Time and again, investments in community care and in global and public health have yielded insight that allows Mass General to address complex issues facing our communities, including communities of color and other underrepresented and marginalized populations.
We’re living in an era of troubling inequity, where far too many people in the United States and around the world lack access to health care. Mass General is striving to erase this and many other disparities so that every person has the opportunity to live a healthy life, regardless of race, ethnicity, education level, sexual orientation or income.
Facing the Challenge of Food Insecurity
“Food insecurity has a major impact on people’s health and well-being — and it’s something we’ve been committed to fighting for many years,” says Joe Betancourt, MD, MPH, senior vice president, Equity and Community Health at Mass General. “But the pandemic had a devastating effect — particularly on immigrant communities and people of color — and it’s highlighted the need for new approaches.”
Mass General’s Center for Community Health Improvement (CCHI) has a long history of partnering with diverse local communities to address food insecurity and other non-medical factors that impact health. Over the past two years, CCHI has stepped up efforts to meet this increased need, through expanded programs, bold strategies and innovative community partnerships.
Leading the way.
Mass General is the only academic medical center to:
- Win both of the top community health prizes in the United States: the Foster G. McGaw Prize and the Spencer Foreman Award for Outstanding Community Engagement.
- Lead global health initiatives across all clinical departments of the hospital.
We’re dedicated to caring for our communities in innovative new ways.
Research shows that 88% of health and well-being is determined by where people live, work and spend time. To maximize wellness in our communities, we must address the social determinants of health — such as race, housing, employment and education — and invest in prevention.
Imagine a future where …
- We continue to invest in innovative care and solutions for the most difficult community health problems.
- We expand our partnerships with communities of color and the most disenfranchised communities, at home and abroad.
- We reduce health inequities and create long-term impact where it’s needed most.
With health equity as our cornerstone, Mass General will continue to redefine an academic medical center’s role in the local and global community.
Deep collaborations across cities and time zones will be central to these efforts.
We seek to make an impact on social determinants of health, gun violence, structural racism, policy, and other complex issues that prevent people everywhere from attaining good health and well-being.
Through this work, we’ll improve the health of families, build healthy futures for youth, decrease the impact of trauma and violence, enhance access to care and deepen community engagement.
Funding priorities in this area include community programs like the Center for Gun Violence Prevention, expanded community and global health program staff, training for care teams, research exploring the root causes of and interventions for pervasive public health problems, and endowed leadership positions.
Mass General is thinking big about the future. We need your help to write medicine’s newest chapters.
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