‘It’s our time’: Black Maternal Health Week is a chance to heal health injustices
April 13, 2022
It was a startling dichotomy when I realized as a desperately ill patient, that I was complicit, by affiliation, in a supposed health care system that didn’t always see me, didn’t always believe me, and thus, isn’t reliably for me. I was 38 weeks pregnant with my second daughter and in excruciating pain. The kind […]
Health Forward commits to building inclusive, powerful, healthy communities
January 14, 2022
The week Americans commemorate Martin Luther King Jr., Health Forward Foundation will share a new purpose and strategies that will guide our work for the foreseeable future. As much as Dr. King spoke on civil rights and racial justice, economic justice was at the core of his activism. As he penned in 1963 from a […]
‘The pandemic served as the best teacher’
March 11, 2021
As with many milestones that occurred over the past year, my one-year anniversary at Health Forward Foundation came and went in the fog of the pandemic. I assumed the role of president and CEO in late January 2020. In my first blog post, I wrote that I would spend six months listening, learning, and getting […]
Health Forward reimagines the future
October 1, 2020
Editor’s note: The following is Qiana Thomason’s full keynote address of Health Forward’s virtual, 15-year anniversary celebration. You may also watch her address. Good morning! Welcome to Health Forward Foundation’s 15th anniversary virtual celebration. We are so pleased you’re sharing your morning with us as we reflect on our past and set our priorities for […]
Emerging data show COVID-19 disproportionately impacts communities of color
April 23, 2020
An abundance of national historical data reminds us that in public health, when America catches a cold, people of color catch pneumonia. As coronavirus (COVID-19) rips through our communities, it exposes social injustice and divisions that determine whether people have necessary resources to be healthy. As such, we are paying acute attention to nascent local […]
During public health crises, equity should be central to solutions
March 13, 2020
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to sweep across the globe, we are witnessing its tremendous impact internationally, nationally, and locally. Prohibitions on travel from certain countries, state of emergency proclamations by state and local governments, universities moving to online courses, and major entertainment and sporting events are shutting its doors to the public. With […]
Meet Qiana Thomason, new Health Forward president/CEO
January 24, 2020
I am filled with great humility, purpose, and elation to begin this next chapter as president/CEO of Health Forward Foundation. I can’t imagine a finer organization to lead. Because of my own experience as a former uninsured patient and then later an administrator within the Kansas City safety-net system, I am embracing this leadership opportunity […]