New Orleans Partnership Selected to Participate in Nationwide ‘Build Health Challenge’
Two-year grant brings together community organizations to address mobility barriers for residents in the Claiborne Corridor
A local partnership led by the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) and LCMC Health has been selected by a coalition of national funding organizations to participate in the BUILD Health Challenge, a nationwide program that puts multi-sector community partnerships at the foundation of improving health for everyone.
The Build Health Mobility project will focus on addressing mobility and transportation barriers that contribute to disparities in chronic disease rates for residents in New Orleans’ Claiborne Corridor. The project will engage partners throughout the city, including the New Orleans Health Department, the Regional Transit Authority (RTA), the Foundation for Louisiana and Ride New Orleans, as well as neighborhood residents.
Because of its Bold, Upstream, Integrated, Local, and Data-driven (BUILD) ideas to improve the health of its residents, New Orleans is one of the 19 communities chosen to participate in this pioneering initiative. Build Health Mobility partners will analyze new and unique data sets to identify opportunities for creating healthier, more connected communities where transportation options including walking, biking, and public transit are safe and easily accessible. Matching funds and in-kind contributions from LCMC Health’s University Medical Center (UMC) New Orleans, combined with BUILD’s two-year grant award, will ignite the partnership’s capacity to understand the complex intersection of health and mobility for Claiborne Corridor residents and to activate community and local leaders to prioritize health in mobility planning and policy development.
“The ability to get to grocery stores, medical care, parks, school, work, and other life needs is essential for good health,” said Jessica Riccardo, Associate Director of Clinical Transformation at LPHI. “By working with our partners to enhance resident mobility in the Claiborne Corridor, we aim to create opportunities for better health.”
“Transportation barriers can have a significant impact on healthcare, leading to missed appointments, delays in treatment or medication,” said Charlotte Parent, Assistant Vice President, Community Affairs & Network Navigation at LCMC Health. “We hope with this grant to utilize the data we get from the community and our partners to identify barriers and inform the planning to address them. The program provides an important opportunity to partner in the community to identify and address a need that impacts many of the patients we serve.”
“By addressing access to education, jobs, housing, health services and open spaces, we can improve the quality of life of our customers,” said Adelee Le Grand, Chief Strategy Officer, Vice President, Transdev, In Service to the RTA. “We look forward to working with LPHI, LCMC Health and the BUILD Health Challenge partners to improve mobility in our community.”
BUILD seeks to create a new norm in the U.S. by addressing upstream factors affecting health. It is supported by a unique collaborative of local and national funders, which includes the Advisory Board, The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, the Colorado
Health Foundation, the de Beaumont Foundation, The Episcopal Health Foundation, Interact for Health, The Kresge Foundation, Mid-Iowa Health Foundation, New Jersey Health Initiatives, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Telligen Community Initiative, and The W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
For more information, visit buildhealthchallenge.org or follow at @BUILD_Health.
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About the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI)
LPHI, founded in 1997, is a statewide 501(c)(3) nonprofit and public health institute that translates evidence into strategy to optimize health. Our work focuses on uncovering complementary connections across sectors to combine the social, economic, and human capital needed to align action for health. We champion health for people, within systems, and throughout communities because we envision a world where everyone has the opportunity to be healthy. For more information, visit www.lphi.org.
About LCMC Health
Established in 2009, LCMC Health is a Louisiana-based, not-for-profit hospital system serving the healthcare needs of the Gulf Coast region. LCMC Health currently manages Children’s Hospital, Touro, New Orleans East Hospital, University Medical Center New Orleans and West Jefferson Medical Center.
About University Medical Center New Orleans
Opened in August 2015, University Medical Center New Orleans is the academic medical center of LCMC Health, a Louisiana-based, not-for-profit health system. UMC New Orleans serves as a key partner of LSU Health Science Center New Orleans, Tulane University School of Medicine and other academic institutions. UMC is home to the Rev. Avery C. Alexander Academic Research Hospital, named in honor of the respected Civil Rights and community leader who served in the Louisiana Legislature for more than 20 years.