Stratis Health leverages its partners, networks, and collaboratives to deliver high-quality, inclusive health care to people who have been historically underserved. Selected examples are featured below; more can be found throughout our website.

 

  • Rural Health: People living in rural areas experience more health disparities than their urban counterparts, and socioeconomic factors such as race, immigration, sexual orientation, and income are often magnified. Addressing health inequities is a key component of Stratis Health’s wide portfolio of initiatives focused on rural health improvement. For example, as a key leader in the Partnership to Advance Tribal Health (PATH), funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Stratis Health has been supporting 24 Indian Health Services (IHS) hospitals across the country to improve health care quality and address the unique health care issues of the populations IHS hospitals serve. We have also been leading health equity-focused learning collaboratives for rural hospitals and clinics in multiple projects around the United States and were invited to assist in the design and facilitation of the HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration), FORHP (Federal Office of Rural Health Policy), and Office of Advancement of Telehealth (OAT) year-long Delphi panel with national experts to define health equity in the rural context, launched in December 2022.
  • Culture Care Connection: Our online learning and resource center, Culture Care Connection, ensures that clinical and non-clinical health care professionals recognize and address their implicit bias and increase cultural sensitivity to address social determinants of health. Health practitioners and community members that use Culture Care Connection realize that health care planning and delivery must be contextualized to meet the individual’s needs. Stratis Health also assists health care organizations in offering culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS standards are receiving renewed attention!).
  • Addressing the Opioid Crisis: The opioid crisis significantly impacts the well-being and development of many communities and disproportionately affects people of color and rural places. To address this, Stratis Health partners with the Native American Community Clinic (NACC) to support culturally responsive practices for treating opioid use disorder (OUD) and other substance use disorders.  Stratis Health also leads the “Stratis Health Opioid Addiction in Rural (SOAR) Education series” to provide education, peer learning, and support on addiction-related subjects for clinicians and care teams in rural areas. Moreover, we support the nation’s 23 Indian Health Services hospitals to improve their care and support for Indigenous people with opioid use disorder. For people with OUD, we also work hard to eliminate stigma so that they can receive quality care.
  • Building Healthier Communities: Stratis Health is dedicated to ensuring that a culture of health improvement can be embedded throughout the community. Since 2007, we have provided small grants to organizations in Minnesota that are mission-aligned and cultivate a culture of quality in the community. Our priorities are in health equity, as exemplified by the three awardees in the 2023 Building Healthier Communities awards. Aligned with our tradition of giving back, Building Healthier Communities reflects our commitment to our community, whereby we are supporting partners in their efforts to deliver quality, safe, and equitable health care.