The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City invited Kathleen Sebelius to help it celebrate its first decade of grant making, but the woman who has served as both U.S. health secretary and Kansas governor came armed with a big idea for the next decennial.
“I think the challenge over the next 10 years is: How do you make Kansas City the healthiest region in the country?” Sebelius said at the foundation’s Tuesday luncheon in Kansas City. “I think that is a very reasonable goal. I don’t think that is at all out of reach.”
That mantle “does not mean you have the fewest people in the hospital,” she added, “but that you have the most people who are really living and working to their full potential.”
The foundation was established in 2003 with proceeds from the $1.1 billion sale of Health Midwest, a nonprofit hospital system, to Nashville-based HCA, a for-profit company. The sale also established the REACH Healthcare Foundation, which is based in Merriam, Kan.
The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City began making grants two years after its formation and since then has awarded more than $200 million to more than 400 organizations, according to its 10th anniversary website.
Sebelius lauded the foundation for the spirit of cooperation it has fostered, especially in the area of nutrition. “You have a lot to teach the rest of the country,” she said.
She also commended the foundation for its early recognition of the importance of the social determinants of health – the conditions in which people live and work and the economic, social and political forces shaping them.
That concept now is becoming more common in health conversations in the United States and around the world, Sebelius said.
By some estimates, she said, the U.S. economy loses about $300 billion a year in productivity from populations that are in poor health, often people in poor and minority communities.
“The leadership of this foundation over the past 10 years cannot be underestimated,” Sebelius said. “I know lots of communities would love to have that opportunity. There is no question that health is good for individuals, it’s good for families and it’s good for communities.”
Editor’s note: The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City provides funding for Heartland Health Monitor.
Mike Sherry is a reporter for KCPT television in Kansas City, Mo., a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.