HUTCHINSON, KS — What began as a $30 million endowment has grown into an $80 million investment into improving the health and wholeness of all Kansans.
The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund was formed in 1986 after the sale of Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, which was a nonprofit hospital affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
Upon being sold to the for-profit Hospital Corporation of America, the church’s Kansas West Conference (now the Great Plains Conference) used $30 million of the proceeds to create the Health Fund with the strategic purpose of advancing health, healing and wholeness in Kansas.
Nearly 40 years later, the Health Fund continues that mission.
And, this spring, the Health Fund celebrated a significant milestone — surpassing $80 million in grants awarded to help make a difference in the lives of Kansans.
“It’s deeply rewarding to see how much impact our organization has made over the course of its history,” Health Fund President and CEO David Jordan said. “We see more than the amount we’ve invested; we see the lives and systems we’ve been able to affect through advocacy and partnership through our grantmaking. Most importantly, we’re excited about how we can continue to partner with grantees and Kansans to improve the health of Kansans for years to come.”
Some grants this past year that helped push the organization over the $80 million mark included:
- Funding to help the Kansas Birth Justice Society train 200 new doulas to help improve the health outcomes of babies and mothers across Kansas
- Two pilot sites for an extensive pilot project to evaluate the effectiveness of community paramedicine and mobile integrated health
- Research that will help drive conversation on ways to better improve the child care subsidy system in Kansas
- Research to better understand the growing lack of access to maternal health care to help drive conversation and solutions
- Investments in parent-coaching methods, including:
- Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up program, which focuses on fostering health relationships between caregivers and their children with the goal of building secure attachment, reducing stress and improving pre-school readiness for toddlers
- Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT), which is an evidence-based treatment that aims to promote healthy child development and help improve the parent-child relationship through interaction. PCIT is beneficial for children with behavioral issues as it can help reduce these problems.
- Investments to help expand access to mental-health services for school-aged children, as well as infant and early childhood
- And many more!
“We can’t impact change alone. We are grateful to all our partners who’ve used their grant funding to improve the health and lives of Kansans,” Vice President of Programs Katie Schoenhoff said. “Your efforts will create positive change for generations to come.”
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