We are a resource for the region, working with communities and nonprofits to generate and accelerate positive changes in health.
Our Initiatives
Behavioral Health
By utilizing a statewide, community-level approach we are gaining a deeper understanding of what works and greater insight into the structural barriers limiting a person-centered, recovery-oriented system. Through this work, we and other stakeholders are influencing the field and providing support to reshape it.
Crisis Response
Our Diverting to Care initiative focuses on how and by whom behavioral health emergencies are handled because people with mental health or substance use disorders are best cared for in their communities — not in jails or prisons or through law enforcement and criminal justice interventions.
Firearm Injury & Death Prevention
Whether taking the form of homicides, suicides, or accidents, firearm violence deeply impacts all Missourians. Solutions can feel elusive, but change is possible. The more people we bring together, gun-owners and non-owners alike, the closer we will be to finding the approaches we need to put an end to the cycles of firearm injury and death.
Food Justice
Our Food Justice initiative aims to ensure equitable access to healthy, affordable, culturally relevant food for all Missourians. Approaches focus on access, cultivation, production, and distribution to create a sustainable and just food system.
Infant Mortality
We established the Infant Mortality Reduction Initiative to address the disproportionately high rates of infant death in portions of St. Louis and the six counties that make up Missouri’s Bootheel. Through the use of a systems change framework, we are actively engaging community members in the planning and implementation of equity-focused strategies.
Contraceptive Access
The Right Time initiative is based on the simple belief that everyone should have the opportunity to pursue the future they want, including if, when, and under what circumstances to get pregnant. We seek to help individuals take control of their own health by improving information about, and removing barriers to, contraceptive services, recognizing that decisions always rest with the patient. The Right Time is making it easier for people in Missouri, including those who are uninsured or underinsured, to receive quality contraceptive services.
Medicaid Expansion
Medicaid is a key piece of the safety net in Missouri. The program allows lower-income Missourians to see a doctor when they are sick, get check-ups, buy medications, and go to the hospital. Having health insurance helps people maintain their health, go to work, and take care of their families. Now that Medicaid has expanded in Missouri, awareness and outreach are essential to help people get and stay covered.
Our 5 service areas include 84 counties and the city of St. Louis
Northeast
Famous author and humorist Mark Twain was born in Florida, MO, and his boyhood home is now a museum in Hannibal, MO.
Central
The University of Missouri in Columbia was the first college in the world to offer a journalism degree (1908).
St. Louis
Maya Angelou, often referred to as “The People’s Poet Laureate,” was born in St. Louis, MO.
Southwest
A herd of about 100 bison make their home in Prairie State Park, located in Barton County, MO.
Southeast
Missouri mines more lead than any other state in the nation, with six mines operating in what is known as the Lead Belt.
Our Process
Idea to Initiative
Our strategic initiatives are one of the ways we drive change as we work to achieve health equity. Watch this video to learn about how we decide where to focus our efforts.
