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Our Journey

About Palm Health Foundation

Palm Health Foundation was established in 2001 as the successor of two Palm Beach County hospital foundations.  The founding trustees developed priorities to honor the interests of decades of hospital benefactors by focusing on healthcare education, especially the profession of nursing, access to care and quality health resources for all, particularly the most vulnerable members of the community.

The Economic Downturn of 2008

Forced by serious constraints of the economic downturn in 2008-2009, foundation trustees shifted their focus to address the most critical health issues in Palm Beach County. The foundation convened multiple meetings of community experts to evaluate the most pressing health gaps and achieve greater impact. As a result, the foundation’s grantmaking priorities became diabetes prevention and management, nursing advancement, family caregiving and behavioral health.

Aspiration for Deeper Community Engagement

Dissatisfied with the short-term gains of traditional responsive grantmaking, in 2012 the foundation’s senior leaders explored new ways to find a deeper connection to the Palm Beach County community and the ability to create sustainable change to transform community health.  It was the first stage of what would become Healthier Together.

Palm Health Foundation Profile

Founded: 2001

Located: West Palm Beach, FL

Assets: $88 million

Staff: Nine

Mission: We inspire and fund solutions for better health in Palm Beach County through community collaboration.

Vision: All Palm Beach County residents have opportunities to thrive and reach their full health potential.

This is Palm Beach County:

Understanding the Landscape

Palm Beach County is the third largest county in Florida with an estimated population of 1,496,000. Nearly 33% are non-English speakers and 88% are U.S. citizens. The poverty rate is 13.4%.

Not counting Lake Okeechobee, Palm Beach County is the second-largest county in land mass in Florida, covering 1,971 square miles.

Largest ethnic and/or groups by race:

Source: Data USA

Palm Beach County Demographics

2017 Rankings

Health Outcomes: #8

– Length of Life (50%): #9
– Quality of Life (50%): #13

Health Factors: #7

– Health Behaviors (30%): #3
– Clinical Care (20%): #9
– Social/Econ Factors (40%): #19
– Physical Environment (10%): #32

2016 Rankings

Health Outcomes: #9

– Length of Life (50%): #6
– Quality of Life (50%): #25

Health Factors: #9

– Health Behaviors (30%): #6
– Clinical Care (20%): #10
– Social/Econ Factors (40%): #19
– Physical Environment (10%): #38

Rankings based on all 67 Counties in Florida

Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Child Opportunity in Palm Beach County

The Child Opportunity Index (COI) is a “measure seeking to capture the many neighborhood conditions and resources that influence child health and development.  The COI incorporates 29 individual indicators organized into three domains:  educational opportunity, health and environment opportunity and social and economic opportunity.”  (The Child Opportunity Index:  Measuring and Mapping Neighborhood-Based Opportunities for U.S. Children)  This work originated as a partnership project between diversitydatakids.org and The Ohio State University Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. This data illustrates racial disparities in access to opportunity for children in Palm Beach County which lead to poorer, relative health outcomes for Black and Hispanic children.         

Source: http://www.diversitydatakids.org/child-opportunity-index

The Child Opportunity Level categorizes each census tract into one of five levels.  Very Low, representing tracts in the bottom 20% of child opportunity, Low, representing 20%-40%, Moderate, 40%-60%, High, 60%-80% and very High-80%-100%.

The National Child Opportunity Score ranks all >72,000 census tracts in the country on a single metric from zero to 100 with 1 representing the lowest child opportunity and 100 the highest. 

The Opportunity Level Categories and Opportunity Scores represented in the tables are the lowest ranking tracts in a given Healthier Together community.

To learn more about the indicators that make up the Child Opportunity Index and how levels are calculated, please visit the diversitydatakids.
 
Life Expectancy in Healthier Together Communities
Life Expectancy in Palm Beach County vs. National and State Averages
Palm Beach County Child Opportunity 2015 Data