Humana and Jefferson Announce Collaboration to Advance Health Equity
In March, Humana announced an endowment and current use gift totaling $15 million to Thomas Jefferson University to advance community health and health equity, and to support Jefferson’s population health efforts.
Most of the gift—$12 million—will be used to fund three endowed positions focused on health equity: a deanship in the College of Population Health (see sidebar), a professorship of community health and equity, and a chief community health and equity office for the health system.
The remaining $3 million will establish the Humana Insights for Action Fund, which will deploy data analytics and advance research to expand focused interventions, narrow health disparities, and improve access to care for patients. It will also enhance community engagement activities and access to health resources in underserved populations alongside other key partners and bolster evaluation of health equity and population health efforts, aligning to Humana’s larger health equity efforts.
“Our focus at Humana is influencing and enabling an equitable healthcare ecosystem so that every person has a fair, just, and dignified opportunity to reach their full health potential,” said J. Nwando Olayiwola, MD, chief health equity officer and senior vice president at Humana. “We are honored to partner with Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health to further the important health equity efforts of this organization. This collaboration demonstrates our shared commitment to advancing community health and health equity and co-creating solutions to address challenges for populations that have historically been marginalized and underserved in healthcare.”
Like many major cities in the U.S., Philadelphia has lower health outcomes. With the addition of Humana’s robust support, Jefferson’s equity efforts will be amplified throughout the region and beyond.
Joseph G. Cacchione, MD, CEO of Jefferson, expressed gratitude for Humana’s generosity, which will help the organization further fulfill its mission of improving lives. “Advancing health equity is core to our mission at Jefferson and we look forward to implementing the Humana Insights for Action Fund to enhance our efforts to address health disparities,” he said. “This incredible gift will not only bolster the Jefferson College of Population Health, which was established in 2008 as the country’s first college of population health, but will advance health equity projects and programming across our entire health system.”
This gift by Humana builds on its long-standing commitment to advancing health equity to improve health for its members, patients, and communities by helping to remove structural barriers, improve access to high-quality care, and address social needs that influence health.