b'Guilford County and Cone Health Partner to Improve Health of Whole Community Guilford County and Cone Health announced on August 10, 2022, they are building a joint innovation team that will take a different approach to improving the health of county residents. This team will use Community-Based Design to learn about what matters most to residents and uncover opportunities for change working with residents from the hardest-hit communities. The partnership applies Community-Based Design and Social Innovation to create better health for underserved communities. In Guilford County, data shows health gaps even when other factors are accounted for. Black and Hispanic patients develop pneumonia, on average, 10 years younger than white patients, even though they have the same number of chronic health conditions. Black babies in the county are twice as likely to die before their first birthday compared to white infants. On average, white residents live three years longer than Black residents. Removing barriers to good health is a major goal at Cone Health. We know how to treat diabetes and heart disease and other chronic conditions that lead to poor health, said Cone Health CEO Dr. Mary Jo Cagle. Weve been working within these communities for years, with painfully few improvements. Clearly, a new approach is needed, and we are taking it. While the pandemic impacted all of us in some way, there is no doubt the health and economic impacts fell most severely on our lower-income residents, people of color, and Tribal communities, and that is directly related to their access to basic necessities like healthy food, a good-paying job and housing, said Guilford County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Skip Alston. Through this partnership with Cone Health, we will focus on working with our most impacted communities to build solutions to address the whole picture of physical, mental, financial and social wellness for our residents.O c t o b e r 1 , 2 0 2 1 t o S e p t e m b e r 3 0 , 2 0 2 2 24'