Bethesda Inc. Board Female Members
Yvonne Washington, Ellen Katz, Jill Miller, Kathy Kelly, Kris Garrett, Christie Kuhns
Not pictured: Cynthia Booth, Denise Kuprionis, and Melissa Thomasson
“It is more important than ever to support women. When we invest in women, we invest in communities, and we change how the story ends for underserved women and their families.”
– Lauren Conrad
In honor of Women’s History Month, we celebrate the contributions of women throughout history and the barriers they have broken on the path to equity. At bi3, we do not underestimate the power and strength of women. From our dedicated Bethesda Board members, peers, trusted grant partners and our bi3 team, we’ve seen our female leaders champion diversity and equity with open minds and hearts. We are proud to celebrate all women who dedicate their time and talents to improving the health and well-being of women and families.
One such woman is local artist Camille Jones who showcased the power of the female voice at our most recent Bethesda Inc. Board meeting. She shared her original poem “The Path Worth Taking,” which she wrote to bring to life the importance of bi3’s purpose—leading the way to a day when every person has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible; when a person’s health can no longer be predicted by race, ethnicity, ability or zip code. We invite you to take a moment to experience Camille’s powerful, inspirational words.
This month, we are also excited to announce $1.4 million in new grants to TriHealth and local nonprofit organizations to reduce health disparities through innovation and advocacy.
Finally, our hearts go out to those fleeing their homes in Ukraine and to all people impacted by the violence. bi3 stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
As we continue our journey forward, we are thankful for the many women joining bi3 in our work to improve the health and well-being of all people. Together, we will lead the way to a day when everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve their best health.
Jill Miller
President, Bethesda Inc.
bi3 awards two implementation grants:
Transforming health through new approaches and scalable solutions
bi3 awards implementation grants to support fully developed ideas that need additional resources to execute, measure impact and build toward sustainability.
Advancing health equity in advanced illness and end-of-life care
According to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, 82% of Medicare patients who used palliative and hospice care in 2018 were White, while 8% were Black and 6.7% were Hispanic. Thus, bi3 is awarding a one-year $500,000 grant to Hospice of Cincinnati (HOC) Navigators to (1) build the cultural competency of staff and create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive culture; and (2) to listen, learn from, and respond to Black communities regarding barriers to care.
“We are committed to understanding and improving health equity in advanced illness and end-of-life care for our Black and African American communities in Greater Cincinnati by listening to patients and families, increasing awareness and growing a team that provides culturally competent care. Over time, this may enable us to serve more Black/African American patients, particularly those with heart disease, resulting in improved access to advanced illness and end-of-life care in the Cincinnati Black/African American community,” said Gayle Mattson, President & CEO of Hospice of Cincinnati.
Improving health equity through policy and advocacy
Through a three-year $525,000 grant, bi3 will support the core operations of All-In Cincinnati and the addition of a Health Equity Policy Director—one of few in the region solely focused on health advocacy.
All-Cincinnati is a coalition—an alliance of committed organizations that have come together to dismantle racial inequities in health, housing, education, economic mobility and justice by uplifting Black women. All-In Cincinnati is examining and working to address barriers that impede collaboration between for-profit and nonprofit sectors and city and county governments to build a more equitable Hamilton County.
The Health Equity Policy Director will implement a multi-dimensional advocacy agenda, create collaborative partnerships with local policymakers and other advocacy organizations and train and mobilize the coalition members to advance its public health policy efforts.
All-In Cincinnati’s Executive Director Denisha Porter recently shared the good news and more about the coalition’s strategic plan with Cincinnati City Council.
bi3 awards two new planning grants:
Transforming health through partnerships and strategy
bi3 awards planning grants, recognizing organizations need time and resources to explore new ideas to improve health and reduce health disparities.
Engaging expert partners to advocate for mothers’ mental health
An 18-month $240,400 grant to Best Point Education and Behavioral Health will fuel a new strategic plan to address gaps and barriers within the current maternal mental healthcare system, building toward long-term sustainable change.
To advance this important work, Best Point will partner with an Advisory Council that includes Every Child Succeeds, Cradle Cincinnati, Groundwork Ohio, TriHealth, UC Health and Hamilton County Public Health. Their extensive planning process will consist of a needs assessment, engagement of consumers and stakeholders, research on best practices and implementation of pilot projects to assess the feasibility and efficacy of potential solutions. The resulting strategic plan could address screening and assessment, workforce development, equity and inclusion principles and prevention and treatment services to improve the system of perinatal mental health for our region.
Integrating oral health into healthcare
A one-year $234,100 grant to TriHealth will support the exploration and development of a comprehensive best practice model for integrating dental services into healthcare, focusing on low-income and underinsured populations. The goal is to decrease health disparities, improve the patient experience and overall health and lower costs.
The grant will enable TriHealth to:
• Identify national best practice models and outcomes
• Engage with patients and key stakeholders to formulate the design and service delivery model
• Develop an operational business plan
