Our Commitment to Community Health
Working to Help Everyone Live Their Healthiest Life
Our medical center and affiliates are working across each of our missions—patient care, research, education, and community— to help everyone be as healthy as they can be, regardless of their background, identity, or where they live.
Community engagement is essential to this work. Through efforts like our Community Health Needs Assessment & Improvement Plan, we respectfully listen to and learn from the communities we serve to identify health priorities and collaborate with partners to address them.
Actions We’re Taking
Engagement & Enrichment
Broadening and educating our workforce. Education and training in support of our values, K-12 pipeline programs, expanded recruitment efforts, and departmental officers are building a more welcoming Medical Center community. These efforts, supported by the Office of University Engagement and Enrichment, help us provide more culturally responsive care to people of all backgrounds. And as our region’s largest employer, we work to create career opportunities within the communities we serve.
Health Equity Research
Improving outcomes through data and research. Our patient care teams engage with community members to help us better understand the experiences of those we serve, including non-medical factors that affect people’s health. We partner with community organizations to address issues such as transportation barriers, food insecurity, and a lack of safe housing. The Office of Health Equity Research aims to develop and implement ways to improve community health, focused on priorities identified by those we partner with and serve. The office supports and synergizes research and training to ensure people in Rochester and beyond have the opportunity to live their healthiest lives.
Access to Care
Improving how we deliver care. We collaborate with partners to add new UR Medicine locations, and we work with community health centers to provide more convenient care in city neighborhoods and rural areas. We are also expanding telehealth services. With support from many departments, including our Health Equity Program Support Office, all of these measures improve access to health screenings and prevention programs, pharmaceutical care, disease management resources, outpatient services, and hospital care. We believe all patients should expect and receive high-quality care, regardless of where they live or their ability to pay.
Community Health Improvement
Through Community Health Needs Assessment and Improvement Plans, our Rochester-based Strong Memorial and Highland hospitals actively collaborate with other local hospitals and the Monroe County Department of Public Health to address health priorities in our home county.
Building on this work, the Center for Community Health & Prevention (CCHP) works with partners to improve the health of communities in Monroe County and across the region we serve. Through disease prevention and healthy living programs, research, education, and policy, we work to create environments that promote healthy behaviors. Our Community Advisory Council brings together people who represent and serve groups of varied backgrounds; it serves as an ongoing forum for URMC to receive feedback and guidance on our health-improvement initiatives.
Public Policy Engagement
Through consistent engagement with local Neighborhood Association leaders, community advisory boards, and resident business associations, our Office of Government and Community Relations actively listens to community feedback to better inform our health equity efforts and support healthier communities. We also collaborate with federal, state, and local government and community leaders to support policies that promote health equity.
Educating the Next Generation
As an academic medical center, we’re in a unique position to train the next generation of caregivers in supporting health equity. We’re teaching residents and fellows to spot and address disparities in their own practices.
Our School of Medicine and Dentistry created the renowned biopsychosocial model of medical education, which teaches students to consider the whole patient and the complexities of their lives. Our health-care providers are trained to be sensitive to people’s circumstances, not just their illnesses or diseases. Understanding the broader context of people’s lives informs all of our missions, including patient care and research.
A Core Strategy
Supporting the health and well-being of communities we serve is central to our Boundless Possibility: 2030 Strategic Plan, which drives our work to expand and transform healthcare delivery, promote a welcoming culture, and build programs of excellence.
From 2020-2025, staff members, physicians, medical students, residents, and trainees from across the Medical Center worked with community groups and individuals to develop and implement our Equity & Anti-Racism Action Plan. The plan guided changes to internal policies and practices in ways that reflect our commitment to fostering a culture of fairness and respect. We also created set, measurable milestones to ensure progress towards our commitment.