Dr. Ann Barnes
President & CEO, Episcopal Health Foundation
We know this has been a year full of uncertainty for many working to improve health in Texas. We’ve talked with many organizations about what shrinking budgets, delayed contracts, and funding cuts mean for the people they serve.
At Episcopal Health Foundation, we spent the past year asking how we stay focused on long-term systems change while also responding to the immediate challenges our communities face.
That is where Igniting Change comes in. It’s our roadmap for how we will continue to support health, not just health care, across Texas in a way that meets this moment of uncertainty, while also looking toward a better future for health in our state. It’s a way for all of us to chart a clear course forward together.
Texas communities continue to face barriers that keep too many people from being healthy. EHF remains focused on changing systems and removing those barriers by addressing the non-medical factors that shape health.
That’s why we are introducing six Impact Drivers that will guide every part of our work — from grants and partnerships to research and policy — in the years ahead. They are the core ways we drive change and are applied across our three Action Areas: Health and Health Care Services, Healthy Communities, and the Health Policies that shape daily life.
Together, the Action Areas and Impact Drivers create a connected roadmap for how we will improve health, not just health care, across Texas.
EHF’s six Impact Drivers:
Strengthening Comprehensive Care
Accelerating Innovative Health Financing
Activating Community Voices
Supporting Community Health Workers
Maximizing Connections to Health Coverage and Benefits
Promoting Multi-Sector Collaboration
Impact Drivers are how we take on both medical and non-medical factors that shape health. They sharpen how we approach our work by improving care inside and outside the doctor’s office, testing better ways to pay for health, lifting community voices, connecting people to health coverage and benefits, supporting community health workers, and bringing varied partners together to act.
We bring these drivers to life through our grants, research, partnerships, and engagement with communities.
EHF's Priorities for Change
We are also keeping focus on three major Priorities for Change where the ripple effects are biggest. We will pay special attention to three big health challenges in Texas: Food and Nutrition Security, Maternal Health, and Diabetes Prevention. When we make progress on them, the ripple effects go far beyond the specific issue.
You will continue to see EHF data projects, learning collaboratives, and other future work focused on these Priorities for Change.
While these priorities are important elements in our Strategic Framework, they are just one part of the picture. They do not represent the full scope of our work and they are not the only things we fund.
Putting it all together
The Action Areas are where the work happens and represent the systems we’re working to transform.
The Impact Drivers are the core ways we create change.
The Priorities for Change are big health challenges where positive impact can ripple out across communities.
Combined, they all form a roadmap to change systems, remove barriers, and give every Texan a fair chance at good health.
Join us for an Informational Webinar on November 13 from 1pm–2:30pm.
You’ll learn more about EHF’s finalized Strategic Framework and the upcoming Grant Guidance. We’ll walk through the framework, explain the Impact Drivers, and share complete details about the open call grant application process.