Statements

Mission

Our mission is to build and advance partnerships and initiatives that tackle Nashville's most critical health challenges.

Background

NashvilleHealth was created by Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in 2015 as a response to Nashville's great dichotomy: thriving, 'it' city / city with a dire health problem. Our vision is for a Nashville in which every Nashvillian can achieve a life of health and wellbeing. Initially, Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee administered our $200,000 in seed funds from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. On Oct. 6, 2016 we received 501(c)(3) status (effective date Jun. 16, 2016). We work to create a culture of health and well-being by serving as a convener to open dialogue, align resources and build smart strategic partnerships to forge a dynamic plan to improve the health of all Nashvillians.
We strive to adhere to a standard of evidence-based and data driven work. One of our constitutional beliefs as an organization is that accurate, ample and timely data utilized in innovative, meaningful and replicable ways is fundamental to reaching our goals. Beginning in March 2018, NashvilleHealth, in partnership with the Metro Public Health Department, with support from 17 additional funding partners, produced a foundational assessment of health and well-being in our community. The Nashville Community Health + Well-being Survey was issued to more than 12,000 households across our county. The completed survey results will allow us to better understand health-related behaviors, chronic health conditions, preventive health practices and how the local environment impacts opportunities for well-being in Davidson County. The findings will also play an important role in setting future priorities regarding the health of Nashville's population: allowing non-profits, businesses, governments and other organizations to better serve the needs of the community.
Our initial areas of focus were child health, hypertension, tobacco use and the environment. We were designed to allow for growth beyond those areas, and we completed a strategic planning process at close of FY20 with that in mind. Our focus areas are now refined to allow for a wider range of work and a deeper connection to reducing health inequities. Those areas are
(1) Data - Good data is critical to evaluating and guiding improvement.
(2) Healthy Communities - A healthier Nashville is more resilient and better able to respond in a health crisis.
(3) Chronic Conditions - Chronic diseases are among the most prevalent and costly health conditions.

Impact

Nashville is a thriving city in the midst of an economic boom. We have a global reputation as an innovative healthcare center, yet the overall health of our population is poor. Left unaddressed, this problem threatens our long-term economic and social vitality. The need for a substantial, collaborative effort to improve the health of Nashvillians becomes clear with a review of our comparative status with other Tennessee cities, other states, and peer cities nationwide. Tennessee ranks 43rd among all states for overall health, and Davidson County ranks 30th among our 95 counties (United Health Foundation, America's Health Rankings). Compared with 4 peer cities, we rank 5th for overall health (RWJF 2015 County Health Rankings). NashvilleHealth exists to operate as a collective impact organization - identifying health challenges, building coalitions for action, catalyzing solution implementation, and measuring outcomes - so that every Nashvillian can achieve a life of health and wellbeing.

Needs

1. We need to grow our reliable base of general funding (committed individual donors, board members, and companies), focused on funding core operations, policy and advocacy efforts, and awareness-building.
2. We need to increase our recurring, multi-year, targeted funding (larger, niche funders), focused on long-term funding for multi-year projects and efforts.
3. We need to find sources for funding of our convening and administrative roles in in our partnership initiatives. We seek small to medium sized niche funders focused on funding specific initiatives (both ongoing and new).
4. We need to continue to gather partners both from within and without the healthcare industry. We seek to continue to add local, state, regional, and national organizations and foundations to our growing list of stakeholders who realize and invest in this transformational work on a perennial basis.
5. We need increased access to experts within the field willing to share their expertise with wide-ranging audiences.
6. We need to grow our organizational staff to meet our growing needs as an organization, and we need to continue to improve our administrative infrastructure, particularly around technological needs.

CEO Statement

At NashvilleHealth, we are passionate about helping Nashvillians that face chronic illnesses and threats to wellness. Social and environmental determinants can cause or increase most health disparities and chronic illness. Recognizing that, we must build coalitions that include non-healthcare and for-profit entities. We need everyone in this concerted effort to improve public health, and that concert needs a conductor. NashvilleHealth is that conductor. We identify health challenges, build coalitions for action, catalyze solution implementation, and measure outcomes.

Board Chair Statement

Nashville suffers from an immense dichotomy: We're a thriving, energetic city in the midst of an economic boom, and our healthcare industry contributes remarkably to better health throughout the nation - yet the health of our own citizens is poor. This is simply unacceptable in a city that boasts an astounding $70 billion healthcare services industry with 17 publicly traded healthcare companies. That is why I founded NashvilleHealth as a 501(c)3, not-for-profit organization with a focused mission to substantially improve the health and well-being of Nashvillians. With every-newly formed partnership and every newly opened dialogue among diverse groups, I more strongly believe that NashvilleHealth plays a unique and unprecedented role in our wonderful city's well-being and future. We cannot be a great city without healthy citizens. NashvilleHealth is the only organization that has that as its single purpose, and it is built to sustain that purpose for decades. It is important for our entire community of stakeholders to become a part of this movement toward greater collaboration and collective action to create a culture of health in our city.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Health Care  - Public Health
Secondary Category:	Public & Societal Benefit  - Alliances & Advocacy
Tertiary Category:	Community Improvement, Capacity Building  - Community Coalitions

Areas Served

TN - Davidson