What Is Health Equity?

Health equity in Louisville means giving every person in every part of our community the same access to care and opportunity to be as healthy as possible, no matter their race, gender or any other influence on their life.

To achieve this vision requires a dedicated, coordinated and honest approach: one that is truthful about the historically harmful effects of health care inequity. The path forward requires us to listen, learn and act, in coordination with our community. Achieving health equity is all of our responsibility and will require us to take a close look at how the conditions we face as we live, learn, work and play affect how healthy we are.

Our Vision for Equity in Medicine

“The premise of the institute is that health equity can be achieved only when every person has a fair opportunity to achieve their full health potential. We are committing time, talent and resources toward this essential human right.”

Investing in access to PRIMARY CARE for everyone

• Establish a mobile primary care unit for underserved areas
• Expand telehealth to all primary care practices and work to deliver telehealth equitably to narrow the digital divide
• Open Norton Healthcare’s first completely bilingual, Spanish-speaking practice in 2021

Providing health PREVENTION AND WELLNESS outreach and resources

• Establish the GetHealthy502 initiative to broadcast public health topics
• Partner with Norton Healthcare Prevention & Wellness to provide free screenings and health care navigation services to underserved areas of the community
• Foster two-way conversation with our patients via our community medical directors who are meeting our community where they are

Offering SUPPORT FOR
CHRONIC DISEASES

• Establish and participate in coalitions of multidisciplinary equity experts in health care and public health to collectively advocate for justice in health
• Strengthen physicians’ knowledge of public health and social drivers of health inequity through community symposiums
• Together with Norton Healthcare’s Equity, Inclusion & Belonging team, equip our staff to improve services, recognize bias and dismantle structural racism

Expanding MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE resources

• Integrate trauma-informed approaches to all areas of care
• Provide access to mental health telehealth services
• Expand our behavioral health workforce’s capacity to improve outreach, engagement and quality of care for underserved populations

Empowering individuals to make
HEALTH DECISIONS

• Commit to helping non-English-speaking patients get the care they need
• Ensure historically marginalized communities are adequately represented in clinical trials

Engaging with our
COMMUNITY AND FAITH PARTNERS

• Advocate for policy changes that reduce displacement and unstable housing
• Partner with our community to provide expanded COVID-19 testing and vaccination in underserved areas

We’re determined to improve the health of our neighbors by creating equal opportunities for everyone to access and receive high-quality care. 

Community support has helped us combat racial, socioeconomic and health inequities, providing funding that has set up food pantries in primary care offices, established a doula program that provides critical support to pregnant patients, provided health screenings in underserved areas of our community and much more. 

And we’re not stopping. The Norton Healthcare Foundation is supporting a vision to expand behavioral health services into clinics in West Louisville, increase workforce education and advocacy and improve access to primary care. Improving health equity in Louisville is part of who we are at Norton Healthcare.

Find out how you can be part of a community where health care is not a privilege. Call (502) 420-4299.