RWJF

Compared with Americans’ current concerns and anxiety about war and terrorism, change at The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is measured on a small scale. But changes are occurring here, and like all changes, they bring both opportunities and challenges for us, and for the people and organizations with which we work.

Our presidential transition has underscored the constancy of the core commitments that hold us to our course even as we ply the rapids of change:

To our mission to improve the health and health care of all Americans
To our grantees and their vital work
To a staff distinguished by its professionalism and competence.

Our new President and CEO, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., has stressed enhancing the focus of our grantmaking through an “Impact Framework” consisting of four grantmaking portfolios:

A targeted portfolio to address specific systemic problems in health and health care over a defined time period
A human capital portfolio to improve the current and future health and health care workforce
A vulnerable people portfolio to serve those most in need of improved health and health care services
A pioneering portfolio to explore and support especially innovative, high-risk approaches to our grantmaking.

Each of these portfolios reflects an evolutionary approach to achieve our consistent, longstanding goals—to assure access to quality health care, to improve the quality of care and support for people with chronic health conditions, to promote healthy communities and lifestyles, and to reduce the harm caused by substance abuse.

The targeted portfolio, with its eight objectives, will be the largest. Its objectives each will have a time horizon consistent with its scope, and each will meet specific measurable outcomes:

Ensuring access to quality health care
Improving the quality of care for people with chronic conditions
Reducing racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care
Reversing the growing epidemic of childhood obesity
Transforming the practice of nursing and care at the bedside
Enhancing the public health system's leadership and capacity
Expanding and improving treatment for abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs
Preventing and alleviating harm caused by tobacco use.

Like all institutions in these unusually turbulent times, we must use our resources—both people and dollars—prudently. We need to balance our desire to stay the course in specific program areas with our need to tackle important new or emerging ones.

From those who seek a definitive map of our exact course, we ask forbearance. Our staff may lately feel as if they are shooting the Colorado River rapids in spring, with risk and exhilaration in equal measure. We are moving swiftly toward our destination, though some of the course is still around the next bend. We will soon post more specific information about our course on the Foundation's Web site, www.rwjf.org. Please watch there for updates on how you and your organization can work with us best toward improving the health and health care of all Americans.

Page 1 | 2 | 3 | >>