Harris Health Sheila Jackson Lee Center for Accelerating Health Equity​ (CARE)

Food Security

Harris Health's Food Farmacy Program provides patients with food insecurity and chronic diseases, including uncontrolled diabetes, with a supply of fresh fruits, vegetables and food items, as well as individual targeted education, nutritional guidance and cooking classes.

Health Harming Legal Needs

Harris Health and South Texas College of Law Houston have teamed up to provide free legal services to eligible patients needing to address health harming situations. Health harming legal needs include assistance with concerns such as intimate partner violence, family law, including divorce and child custody, resolving landlord/tenant issues and more.

Collecting Demographic Data

Harris Health launched an improved data collection process to learn more about patient demographics and health related social needs, such as food, housing, transportation and safety concerns. Improved data is key to understanding who we serve, identifying the needs of our population and communities and uncovering inequities in health outcomes that we can explore and aim to eliminate.
Metrics coming soon:

Community Health Workers

Harris Health’s Community Health Worker Home Visit Program embodies Harris Health 's health hub philosophy and takes it on the go. Este programa lleva educación personalizada sobre diabetes directamente a los hogares de los pacientes que tienen diabetes no controlada y están desvinculados de la atención. Patients are educated on how to effectively navigate Harris Health to increase their connection to their diabetes care team and community resources for health-related social needs.

High Reliability Organization

Harris Health aims to be a high-reliability organization (HRO) with quality and patient safety as a core value where zero patient harm is not only a possibility, but an expectation. The key components of HROs, include leadership, a safety-focused culture and a dedication to continuous learning and improvement. Harris Health is achieving this goal in part by implementing a systemwide safety campaign focused on transparency, education and culture change.

Exceptional Heart Healthcare

Harris Health announced a five-year focus on heart health to improve heart health outcomes, including blood pressure control and eliminate inequities. One of the many innovative care programs for heart health is HealthyConnect, a remote blood pressure monitoring program. HealthyConnect uses patient reported data to monitor and capture important medical information provided by the patient. The goal is to keep patients healthy and improve quality of life in-between healthcare provider visits.

Emergency Center Super Users

Multivisit patients (MVPs), also called high users or super users, are patients with needs not well met by the healthcare delivery system as it is currently designed. At Harris Health, MVPs are defined as those with greater than 10 emergency center visits per year. The program relies on community health workers who spend time with MVPs to identify issues they may be experiencing, such as housing instability or food insecurity, that negatively impact their health. The community health workers emphasize meeting patients at the bedside to get a detailed sense of what they are struggling with and how the program can help. Harris Health chooses to transform care delivery to better meet these patients’ needs, leading to reduced emergency visits and improved stability.

Programa de diversidad de contratistas

Harris Health’s Contractor Diversity Program recognizes Minority- and Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs)​ as key economic engines and major employers in Harris County and surrounding areas. Harris Health is committed to seeking out, identifying, assisting and using M/WBEs. To this end, Harris Health shall seek mutually beneficial business relationships with diverse businesses, provide equal access to Harris Health’s purchasing opportunities and promote M/WBE inclusion to reflect the business community of Harris County and surrounding areas.

Environmental Advocacy

Harris Health leaders played a key role in advocating against a permit for a new concrete crushing plant next to LBJ Hospital. Team members worked with key experts from UT Health to research the negative air quality and health effects of concrete crushing plants and collaborated with local organizations, including air quality coalitions, to write policy statements and briefs opposing concrete crushing facilities. Harris Health leaders also participated in local events and met with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrators to ensure the issue gets the attention it deserves.

Workforce and Opportunity

Promoting a diverse workforce that reflects the communities Harris Health serves is fundamental to its health equity strategy. Through intentional recruiting, mentorship and pipeline programs, Harris Health ensures its staff not only understands, but also represents the unique cultural and social dynamics of the local population, leading to more effective and empathetic care.

Education

Workforce training is essential to health equity. By equipping staff with the necessary skills and knowledge, Harris Health ensures their team can deliver culturally competent care, effectively addressing the diverse needs of the community. Trainings also help foster an inclusive and equity-focused organizational culture by helping staff recognize implicit biases, respectful communication, cultural differences, and other factors that impact quality healthcare.

Community Events

Community events, like health fairs, are vital to health equity. The events allow Harris Health to directly engage with community members, hear their voices and understand their unique needs, ensuring healthcare services are relevant and accessible.

Community Partnerships

Fostering deep, sustainable partnerships with community-based organizations is crucial for Harris Health. These collaborations provide essential connections and resources, enabling Harris Health to effectively address health disparities and support the overall well-being of the community. One way of ensuring the sustainability of partnerships and connection to resources is through Harris Health Cares, a community resource finder available to support patients' and their families' whole health with low cost to free resources nearby. Examples of available resources include food, housing, transportation and utility assistance programs.