Methodist Healthcare Ministries invests nearly $130 million to advance health equity across South Texas

San Antonio, TX (June 7, 2022) – Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. is investing $129.9 million this year to advance health equity and support communities across South Texas through direct services, the development of community partnerships and advocacy. The funding for 2022 represents an increase of 14.2% from 2021. The nonprofit is deepening its work creating access to care for the uninsured in its 74-county service area.

The $129.9 million represents the organization’s strategic focus on advancing health equity, the framework of thought and action guiding its efforts to address systemic inequities and socio-economic barriers that keep people from living their healthiest lives.  The 2022 investment includes funding for direct patient-care services, strategic operations and advocacy work being done across 74 counties, as well as $30.6 million in community grants to over 90 funded partners to extend their mission to nurture resilient families across the state.

“For over 25 years, Methodist Healthcare Ministries has been blessed to have the resources we need to make this type of impactful investment in the communities we serve, as we endeavor to fulfill our mission of ‘Serving Humanity to Honor God’,” said Jaime Wesolowski, President & CEO of Methodist Healthcare Ministries. “With the support of an incredible team, an engaged board of directors and our commitment to advancing health equity, we believe this investment will help support resilient families and build thriving communities across our service area.”

As a private, faith-based, not-for-profit organization, Methodist Healthcare Ministries puts the earnings it receives as 50-50 co-owner of the Methodist Healthcare System to fund community-led efforts and promote public policy changes that advance a level playing field for healthy living—now and for generations to come.

Grants:

In 2022, Methodist Healthcare Ministries awarded $30.6 million in community investment funding to over 90 nonprofit agencies across its 74-county service area. Methodist Healthcare Ministries’ grants are rooted in partnerships that support access to care, integrated delivery systems and patient-centered models. In partnership with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), safety-net clinics, counseling services and regional community projects, Methodist Healthcare Ministries' goal is to create measurable impact at the community and regional levels to further establish health care networks.

Methodist Healthcare Ministries aims to help create and sustain healthy communities by supporting organizations that address the community conditions in which people are born, grow, live, and work, otherwise known as the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH).  Methodist Healthcare Ministries is interested in learning how organizations are addressing SDoH in general and places a special focus on several key intersecting issues: economic mobility, digital inclusion and broadband infrastructure, and food security. 

Grants address one of the following giving areas: Access to Health Care; Mental & Behavioral Health; Programs to adopt Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) screening tools; Food Security/Systems; Digital Inclusion; and Cross-sector Collaborations to Strengthen Health Equity.

An example of a long-time partner that Methodist Healthcare Ministries has supported is Family Service, which Methodist Healthcare Ministries has awarded $7.8 million since 2007. Family Service operates a number of programs that help address SDoHs, including a Rural Child Abuse Prevention Program, Early Childhood Wellbeing Program and a Financial Empowerment Program.

In 2022, Methodist Healthcare Ministries is providing more than $850,000 in funding for various programs.  The Por Las Familias Rurales (For the Rural Families) program will address suffering among a vulnerable population (children at risk of child abuse and neglect) and improve mental health outcomes by working with families in rural areas to build parenting and coping skills. The Early Childhood Wellbeing Program will provide mental health services to children that includes looking at the linkages to care for SDoH. And the Edgewood Connected Beyond Classroom Initiative, in which Family Service will be working with Methodist Healthcare Ministries, Texas A&M San Antonio, and Edgewood I.S.D. to co-create the Digital Inclusion Scholars Program (DISP) and institutionalize it as an Edgewood Independent School District student program – an initiative that will help close the digital divide, yet another SDoH. Most recently, Family Service received funding to provide support for the families impacted by the tragic school shooting in Uvalde last month.

“Family Service helps individuals and families overcome the multi-faceted challenges in their lives that affect their long-term health, quality of life, and life potential,” said Mary Garr, President & CEO of Family Service. “Too often, these challenges are deep-rooted, intergenerational, and tied to systemic barriers and lack of access to resources. We greatly appreciate our partnership with Methodist Healthcare Ministries as we are aligned in eliminating or reducing barriers caused by what are known as social determinants of health which, thus, improve the lives and health of individuals and families, and help to strengthen and create vibrant, healthy communities.”  

Overall, funding is allocated to over 110 grant programs to deepen collaborative efforts, incentivize quality health outcomes, leverage and strengthen health care delivery systems and promote sustainable systems change. Methodist Healthcare Ministries' board of directors oversees the selection of funded partners and requests are considered on an annual basis.

Strategic Operating Initiatives Add-on:

In addition to the annual grants to partners, Methodist Healthcare Ministries has allocated nearly $14 million toward strategic initiatives that amplify our overall strategic goals and disrupt the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Methodist Healthcare Ministries is investing in approaches that address the root causes of poverty and health inequities, such as cross-sector partnerships, investing in community infrastructure, policy/legislative action eliminating barriers and/or addressing the long-term needs of individuals, families and communities. Examples of the types of initiatives Methodist Healthcare Ministries is investing in include: economic mobility, access to clean water, more community-led collaboration initiatives and broadband expansion efforts to close the digital divide.

Direct Services

Creating access to care through the provision of clinical services has always been key to the organization's mission. Methodist Healthcare Ministries operates two San Antonio-based primary health care clinics: Wesley Health & Wellness Center and Dixon Health & Wellness Center, and two school-based health centers: George Ricks School Based Health Center at Krueger Elementary and George Ricks School Based Health Center at Schertz Elementary. The clinics address the needs of low-income families and the uninsured by providing services at no cost or on a sliding fee scale. The health care services Methodist Healthcare Ministries provides are a cornerstone of its charitable purpose of creating access to care.

Methodist Healthcare Ministries' mission also includes its one-half ownership of the Methodist Healthcare System—the largest healthcare system in South Texas. This creates a unique avenue to ensure the Methodist Healthcare System continues to be a benefit to the community by providing quality care to all, and revenue to Methodist Healthcare Ministries for its programs and services.

Since inception, Methodist Healthcare Ministries has provided more than $1.4 billion in health care services through its clinical programs, as well as through partnerships, and is one of the largest private funding sources for community health care to low-income families and the uninsured in South Texas.

###

About Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.

Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. is a private, faith-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating access to health care for the uninsured through direct services, community partnerships and strategic grant-making in 74 counties across South Texas. Guided by its mission of "Serving Humanity to Honor God," Methodist Healthcare Ministries’ vision is to be the leader for improving wellness of the least served. The mission also includes Methodist Healthcare Ministries' one-half ownership of the Methodist Healthcare System, the largest healthcare system in South Texas, which creates a unique avenue to ensure that it continues to be a benefit to the community by providing quality care to all and charitable care when needed. For more information, visit www.mhm.org.