Episcopal Health Foundation Awards St. Joseph Health $432,351 for Health Resource Center Hub in Bryan

(July 12, 2016, Bryan, TX) The Episcopal Health Foundation (EHF) has awarded a grant to St. Joseph Health to establish a Health Resource Center Hub in Bryan. Designed to improve access to services throughout our area for residents, the Hub will collaborate with agencies based in Bryan-College Station and help connect our existing Health Resource Centers in Madisonville, Navasota and Caldwell. The Health Resource Center (HRC) staff will include navigators who can assess an individual’s needs and connect them to the agencies who provide services ranging from basic shelter, food and clothing to more complex behavioral health counseling or other social needs. “When you don’t have reliable transportation to see your doctor – or you’re having to choose between paying for your medicine or keeping the lights on, focusing on your health becomes a real challenge,” said Reed Edmundson, Administrator for St. Joseph Health Madison, Grimes and Bellville hospitals. We currently have Health Resource Centers in Madisonville, Navasota and Caldwell that lower many of the social and financial barriers that keep patients from receiving care. In support of our Mission and improving the health of the communities we serve, St. Joseph Health has focused for many years on nurturing programs like the Hub and our HRCs. The new Hub in Bryan will not only help us reach the underserved population in Bryan-College Station, but also serve as a point of connection for our other Health Resource Centers. “We created these centers more than a decade ago with the belief that no patient should ever face those kinds of decisions,” said Reed. “However, we see year after year that this is a challenge in all of the communities we serve. This new Hub should serve as a great resource in our efforts to help manage the health of our communities.” 

About St. Joseph Health Established in 1936, St. Joseph Health is a faith-based, not-for-profit health system committed to excellence and compassion in caring for the mind, body and spirit while creating healthier communities. St. Joseph Health is comprised of five hospital facilities across the Brazos Valley, including Regional Hospital, the region’s highest level trauma center. St. Joseph Medical Group operates more than a dozen primary and specialty care clinics around the region, offering expert care, closer to home. St. Joseph Health is a part of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), one of the nation’s largest health systems. For more information, visit CHIStjoseph.org. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, CHI operates in 19 states and comprises more than 103 hospitals, including four academic medical centers and teaching hospitals; 30 critical-access facilities; community health services organizations; accredited nursing colleges; home health agencies; and other services that span the inpatient and outpatient continuum of care. For more information, visit CatholicHealthInitiatives.org.

About EHF With more than $1.2 billion in estimated assets, the Episcopal Health Foundation (www.episcopalhealth.org) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that operates as a supporting organization of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. EHF works to improve the health and well-being of the 10 million people in the 57 counties of the Diocese by investing in communities through grant-making, outreach to Diocesan churches and critical research to advance community health. The Diocese formed EHF in 2013 when it sold the St. Luke’s system to Catholic Health Initiatives.