Welcome to the monthly Health Equity Highlights newsletter! We are excited to share what we have been working on.

With the legislative session that just closed in May, here are several victories Hennepin Healthcare advocated for that will improve our patients’ access to equitable care:

• 1115 Health Related Social Needs waiver directs the state to apply to pay for health-related social needs like housing, case management, and violence prevention.
• Reentry waiver expands coverage for short-term medical assistance for incarcerated people. Why it matters: This helps the state access better funding for patient needs. 
• Funding for acute care transitions for people with disabilities and complex health conditions. Why it matters: Reimbursed services must be designed to preserve the person’s functional abilities and to help them smoothly transition between acute care and community-based settings to their home.
• Health coverage of gender-affirming care. Why it matters: Expands access to gender-affirming care by covering all medical, surgical, counseling, or referral services, including telehealth services, that individuals may receive to support and affirm their gender identity or gender expression.
• Expanded access to HIV medications, prosthetic devices and services
• Made prescription drug labels more accessible to people with disabilities
• Improve access to culturally centered healing and care: The Birth Justice Collaborative (BJC) led two bills to fund planning grants for an American Indian Birth Center and an African American Homeplace model, which will improve access to culturally centered healing and care during pregnancy and postpartum.

Thank you to our Advocacy and Public Policy Team and all our team members' advocacy and hard work.

Partnering with Don't Shoot Guns, Shoot Hoops, the Next Step basketball program is happening again this summer!

It runs all summer from June 10 to September 4, every Monday and Wednesday from 6 - 8 pm.

All youth ages 10 - 19 are welcome to participate at any point. This camp is excellent for improving skills, confidence, and teamwork.

The outdoor court is located in Elliot Park, 1000 E 14th St, Minneapolis, MN, across from the Parkside Professional Building. It is accessible via Metro Transit routes C&D Lines and Route 5 at the Hennepin Healthcare stop. Please contact Thea Williams at 612-398-6926 for more information.

This year, the Hennepin Healthcare Health Equity Department and Black and African American Collective invited the Hennepin Healthcare team to celebrate Juneteenth by cultivating joy through music and uplifting local black-owned businesses. 

Thank you to all the volunteers and team members who helped make the celebration eventful! 

On a typical day at the Hennepin Health Access Clinic in Hennepin Healthcare, Community Health Worker Mia Debbins gives a patient a new pair of shoes. She brings another a boxed lunch and helps a third update their resume.

At first glance, Mia’s work seems unrelated to medical care. But the Hennepin Health Access Clinic premise is that people’s basic needs are inseparable from their medical care.

“If we haven’t taken care of a person’s basic needs, it doesn’t matter what a doctor can do with, say, the cancer on their tongue,” says Clinic Manager Krista Siddiqui. “If they’re not in a place where they have food, transportation, or somewhere safe to sleep, we’re going to do very little for their health.”

This year, our clinic turns 10! It takes patients by referral only – serving Hennepin Health members who haven’t found success in traditional clinic settings.

Read more on the Here for Life blog.

This article was written by Lori Imsdahl, initially posted by Hennepin Health, and republished on the Here for Life blog. 

In celebration of Minnesota American Indian Month, our American Indian Collective hosted a vendor’s market for local Native American artists and businesses.

The vendor market is a way we can continue to build strong community partnerships, support the financial vitality of American Indian-owned businesses, and create opportunities for our employees to engage with members of the diverse communities we serve at Hennepin Healthcare.

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