Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

29 QUALITY IMPROVEMENT & MEASUREMENT How Jefferson Health is harnessing philanthropy to address health disparities By Kelly Gooch I n recent years, hospitals and health systems have launched programs or other initiatives to tackle health disparities, from outreach programs and education to recruiting a chief diversity officer. Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health is no exception, with an ap- proach centered on funding programs through philanthropy. Jefferson established the Philadelphia Collaborative for Health Eq- uity in 2017, with the goal of advancing health equity in and around the city via partnerships with residents, nonprofits and other relevant stakeholders. Since then, some activity highlights of the collaborative include part- nering with the Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations to develop the Hansjörg Wyss Wellness Center in South Philadelphia, as well as awarding $600,000 in catalyst grants, through a Jefferson benefactor, to address mental health; trauma, safety and violence; housing; and built environment in the city. Now the collaborative aims to raise $100 million by 2024 for health equity initiatives as part of Jefferson's $1 billion Reimagine Cam- paign. Elizabeth Dale, EdD, executive vice president and chief advancement officer with the Jefferson Office of Institutional Advancement, told Becker's she is excited about the efforts being made. She discussed Jefferson's strategy for health equity fundraising, shared progress re- lated to the health system's fundraising goal and passed along advice to her peers who are interested in health equity philanthropic efforts. Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length. Question: What is the health system's strategy for raising funds for health equity? Dr. Elizabeth Dale: Stephen Klasko, MD, who was president of omas Jefferson University and CEO of Jefferson Health, early on in his presidency said we could grow to multihospital network and be a multibillion-dollar organization, but he'd consider his tenure a failure if we do not address the health inequities in the city. Phila- delphia is in top 10 largest cities, and we have a lifespan gap between ZIP codes of 20 years. So, my development team and I took that so seriously. Amid a $1 billion fundraising campaign, we said, "We're putting a stake in the ground, and we're so committed to health equi- ty, we're going to set a goal of raising $100 million to address health inequities in the course of our Reimagine Campaign." We're planning to conclude that campaign in 2024. We have been able to demon- strate to the board and leadership the impact philanthropy makes, with benefactors who have given us major gis like $5 million from Andréa and Kenneth Frazier for the Frazier Family Coalition for Stroke Education and Prevention, a partnership between Jefferson Health and Philadelphia-based Temple Health. Q: Jefferson set a goal to raise $100 million for health equi- ty initiatives. How is this going? ED: It's going extremely well. We've raised more than $45 million Maternal deaths rose dramatically during COVID-19: 3 study notes By Erica Carbajal M aternal deaths in the U.S. rose 33 percent after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, according to a study published June 28 in JAMA Network Open. Researchers from the University of Maryland in College Park and Boston University used data from the National Center for Health Statistics to compare maternal deaths from 2018 through 2020. Maternal mortality was defined as death during pregnancy or within 42 days of pregnancy. Three findings: 1. For the prepandemic period, the maternal death rate was 18.8 per 100,000 births. That rose to 25.1 per 100,000 for March through December 2020, marking a 33.3 per- cent increase. Late maternal deaths, or those that occurred up to one year after birth, also increased 41 percent. 2. Maternal death rates increased even more for minori- ty women after the start of the pandemic. The findings showed a 74 percent increase compared to the prepan- demic period among Hispanic women, and a 40.2 percent increase among Black women. 3. COVID-19 was listed as a secondary cause of death in 14.9 percent of maternal deaths from April through December 2020. None of the maternal deaths was solely attributed to COVID-19. "Changes in maternal deaths during the pandemic may involve conditions directly related to COVID-19 (respiratory or viral infection) or conditions exacerbated by COVID-19 or other healthcare disruptions (diabetes or cardiovascular disease) but could not be discerned from the data," the researchers said. n

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