Louisville Celebrates RWJF Culture of Health Prize - Archived

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Louisville Celebrates RWJF Culture of Health Prize
Acknowledging Efforts That Give All Residents the Chance to Thrive
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Recognizes Louisville for Collaboration, Data-Driven Decision Making, and a Shared Commitment to Health

Louisville, Ky. (November 4, 2016) - The city of Louisville is one of seven winners of the 2016 RWJF Culture of Health Prize awarded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Prize honors communities for their efforts to ensure all residents have the opportunity to live longer, healthier and more productive lives.
 
More than 150 application participants and community members seeking to carry the work forward will attend Louisville’s Culture of Health: Putting Good Health Within Everyone's Reach, a free learning and celebration event on Monday, Nov. 7, 2-7 p.m. at the Muhammad Ali Center. This event is being coordinated by the Louisville Culture of Health Prize application team, including the Community Foundation of Louisville, Greater Louisville Project, IDEAS xLab, and KentuckyOne Health. For more information, and to register, visit http://cultureofhealth-lou.eventbrite.com.  
 
This national award recognizes Louisville for bringing partners together to rally around a shared vision of health, drawing especially on the wisdom, voice and experience of residents themselves. Chosen from nearly 200 applicant communities across the country, Louisville earned the prestigious RWJF Prize for its commitment to health equity, data-driven decision making, collective impact, violence prevention efforts, and for its innovation in engaging artists to improve health.
 
“The City of Louisville is honored to be acknowledged among the seven 2016 Culture of Health Prize communities. This recognition is a testament to the great work being done across our community by civic, nonprofit and corporate partners, with the goal of eliminating health inequities and improving the overall health in our community,” said Mayor Greg Fischer.
 
“The RWJF Culture of Health Prize communities show us that in towns and regions across the nation, individuals are coming together to find powerful ways to help people achieve the best health possible. These communities are connecting the dots between health and education, jobs, housing and community safety,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, RWJF president and CEO. “We’re privileged to learn from this growing network of communities that offer hope for the well-being of the entire nation.”
 
Louisville will join a network of Prize-winning communities, receive a $25,000 cash prize, and have its inspiring accomplishments shared nationally by RWJ, the largest philanthropy in the U.S. focused solely on health. The other six winning communities are: 24:1 Community in the St. Louis area of Missouri; Columbia Gorge Region of Oregon and Washington; Manchester, New Hampshire; Miami-Dade County, Florida; Santa Monica, California, and the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe in Washington.
 
To become an RWJF Culture of Health Prize winner, Louisville had to demonstrate how it excelled in the following six criteria:
 
●  Defining health in the broadest possible terms
●  Committing to sustainable systems changes and policy-oriented long-term solutions
●  Cultivating a shared and deeply-held belief in the importance of equal opportunity for health
●  Harnessing the collective power of leaders, partners, and community members
●  Securing and making the most of available resources
●  Measuring and sharing progress and results
 
After a year-long effort, the Louisville application team is excited to share the Culture of Health energy and incentives with the community-at-large.  This is an opportunity to come together as a city and as a launch pad for making sure that whether you live in Shawnee, Smoketown, PRP or the Highlands, a culture of health is accessible for all of us.
 
Even with representation from a broad array of partners, only a sample of the work being done in Louisville was highlighted in the space-limited RWJF application.  The application process itself facilitated frank conversations about race and violence demonstrating that, while Louisville has ground to cover, we’re making strides to tackle the systemic issues that are barriers to health equity.
 
In a city where nonprofits, CEOs, healthcare systems, artists and community members can band together to create change, the Culture of Health prize has the potential to further collective efforts in Louisville.
 
Louisville joined this year’s other Prize winning communities at the Culture of Health Prize Celebration and Learning Event taking place at Robert Wood Johnson Foundation headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey on October 19-20.
 
Learn more about Louisville’s work, as well as this year’s other Prize winners through a collection videos, photos, and more at www.rwjf.org/Prize.
 
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
For more than 40 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are working with others to build a national Culture of Health enabling everyone in America to live longer, healthier lives. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.
 
About the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute
The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute advances health and well-being for all by developing and evaluating interventions and promoting evidence-based approaches to policy and practice at the local, state, and national levels. The Institute works across the full spectrum of factors that contribute to health. A focal point for health and health care dialogue within the University of Wisconsin-Madison and beyond, and a convener of stakeholders, the Institute promotes an exchange of expertise between those in academia and those in the policy and practice arena. The Institute leads the work on the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps and the RWJF Culture of Health Prize. For more information, visit http://uwphi.pophealth.wisc.edu
 
About the Community Foundation of Louisville
Founded in 1984, the Community Foundation of Louisville is the largest charitable foundation in Kentucky with $448 million in assets and more than 1,377 charitable funds.  Each fund has its own name and charitable purpose as defined by its donors.  In 2015, these funds made over 10,500 grants totaling $49 million, approximately 90% of which stayed in Kentucky to support area nonprofits. As a leader in philanthropy, the Foundation connects donors, nonprofits and civic partners to create lasting impact in community. To learn how you can be a part of this force for good, visit www.cflouisville.org.
 
About Greater Louisville Project
For more than a decade, The Greater Louisville Project has provided research and data analysis to catalyze action and engage the community in a shared agenda for long-term progress. The GLP curates research and conducts data analysis to publish the "Competitive Cities Report," an annual public report card tracking progress in a number of Deep Drivers of Change against its peer cities, designed to move Louisville into the top tier of American cities. Community leaders have organized civic strategies to attain the Deep Drivers in: education, 21st Century jobs, quality of place, and health. The GLP is an independent, non-partisan initiative supported by a consortium of philanthropic foundations.
 
About IDEAS xLab
IDEAS xLab is a catalytic artist-innovation company committed to driving large-scale change by
training artists to become a unique force of social entrepreneurs and creative disruptors of the status quo who transform the American workforce by creating a healthier, more equitable approach to development. Through direct engagement with corporations, communities and governments, IDEAS xLab's framework for artist-led innovation empowers artists to extend their reach, deepen their impact, and fundamentally improve society.
 
About KentuckyOne Health
KentuckyOne Health, the largest and most comprehensive health system in the Commonwealth, has more than 200 locations, including hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies in Kentucky and southern Indiana. KentuckyOne Health is dedicated to bringing wellness, healing and hope to all, including the underserved.  The system is made up of the former Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System, along with the University of Louisville Hospital and James Graham Brown Cancer Center. KentuckyOne Health is proud of and strengthened by its Catholic, Jewish and academic heritages.