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Renown Health Expands Their Not-for-Profit Mission, Partners with 51 Community Agencies to Address Area's Most Critical Healthcare Needs

By:
  • Renown Public Relations
May 7, 2025
Nonprofit organizations who received Better Together grants from Renown Health gather on the staircase for a group photo.

As Reno’s only locally owned, not-for-profit, integrated academic healthcare network, Renown Health and its health insurance organization, Hometown Health, reinvest every dollar earned back into the community; in expertise, technology, treatments, training, and research to improve health and prevent illness.

Today, the Renown Health senior leadership team, representing over 8,000 physicians and employees, took time to celebrate and provide grant funding, data and program operations support to 51 local not-for-profit partners to help address the area’s most critical healthcare needs and build a healthier Nevada.

View photos from the celebration here.

“For more than 160 years, Renown Health has worked to improve the health of our community,” said Brian Erling, MD, MBA, President & CEO of Renown Health. “As an essential community asset, and in affiliation with the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, we appreciate the trust placed in us and take this responsibility very seriously. Our commitment has grown and evolved through significant thought and care in considering our community’s most pressing health needs. By partnering with other mission-driven, nonprofit organizations we are working to address these issues, which include expanding access to care, enhancing affordability and ensuring that every person can live their healthiest and best life.”

He added, “Improving the health and wellness of an entire population of people is not easy. It is a huge task. We know that change is certain, and to take on the challenges ahead we must work together now, with those in the field, to ensure a bright and healthy future for our kids, grandkids, and future generations."

Renown Health has invested over $2 billion over the last ten years to support those in need- helping patients who are unable to afford their medical bills; training the next generation of doctors and clinicians; and funding hundreds of vital non-profit organizations to address critical social and health challenges.

“One way we keep our commitment to the community is through conducting a periodic, comprehensive Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA),” said Suzanne Bharati Hendery, Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer. “This includes gathering quantitative and qualitative data to guide both our organization’s community benefit and strategic planning. Through this process we have identified the greatest health needs among our communities, enabling Renown Health to ensure our resources are appropriately directed toward outreach, prevention, education, and wellness opportunities where the greatest impact can be realized.”

The 51 not-for-profit local organizations recognized today have applied for and been selected to receive a Renown Health 2025 Community Grant for a project that addresses one or more of the three critical health care needs (Mental Health, Access to Healthcare and Community Services, Maternal and Child Health) of people living in the areas served by Renown Regional Medical Center and Renown South Meadows Medical Center.

  1. Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association
  2. Amplify Life
  3. Baby's Bounty
  4. Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows
  5. Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada
  6. Bristlecone Recovery Center
  7. Cancer Community Clubhouse
  8. Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada
  9. City of Reno (Reno Adaptive)
  10. Communities In Schools of Western Nevada
  11. Crisis Call Center dba Crisis Support Services of Nevada
  12. Disability Resources Inc.
  13. Domestic Violence Resource Center
  14. DOULA CO-OP of Nevada
  15. Education Alliance of Washoe County
  16. For Kids Foundation
  17. Forever14
  18. Girl Scouts of the Sierra Nevada
  19. High Fives Foundation
  20. High Sierra Area Health Education Center
  21. Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada WIC
  22. Join Together Northern Nevada
  23. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Nevada
  24. National Fitness Campaign
  25. Neighbor Network of Northern Nevada (N4)
  26. Nevada Rural Hospital Partners Foundation
  27. Washoe Suicide Prevention Alliance (WSPA)
  28. Nevada Women's Fund
  29. Northern Nevada HOPES
  30. Northern Nevada Maternal & Child Health Coalition
  31. Project Marilyn
  32. Project STAY
  33. Quest Counseling & Consulting
  34. RennerVation Foundation
  35. Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern Nevada
  36. Safe Kids Washoe County
  37. Safe Talk For Teens
  38. Sierra Nevada Journeys
  39. Southern Mono Healthcare District
  40. STEP2
  41. Tahoe Family Solutions
  42. The Children's Cabinet
  43. The Food Bank of Northern Nevada
  44. The Trauma Intervention Program of Northern Nevada (TIP of NNV)
  45. ThinkFirst Nevada
  46. Truckee Meadows Tomorrow
  47. University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine Sanford Center for Aging
  48. Urban Roots Garden Classroom
  49. Veterans Guest House
  50. Volunteers of America NCNN
  51. Washoe County Behavioral Health Crisis Response System

This follows a rigorous and thorough scoring process by a panel of public health experts, designed to ensure fairness, transparency and the selection of the most impactful projects, these 501©(3) organizations have been awarded grants determined by their alignment with priority populations, the scope of work, and the strength of their project plans. The Renown’s Community Benefit grant funding process for 2025 is now complete. It is anticipated that the grant funding process will open again in 2026.

The success of the health system’s partnerships in improving the health of Washoe County is measured in the health statistics and data that are reported at the local, state, and national level on the website, NevadaTomorrow.org.

The Community Benefit program supports Renown Health’s commitment to caring for the people of northern Nevada. Notably, Renown provides 66.5% of hospital services in the Reno/Sparks, NV area and 72.2% of Medicaid and uninsured care in the region. In Calendar Year 2023, Renown Health provided $274.M in Community Benefit, predominantly for unreimbursed healthcare services, community health improvement and health professions education.

“Our Community Health Program supports Renown’s mission, vision and values in a very tangible way; by identifying the most urgent health care needs, and directing allocated resources more effectively for outreach, prevention, education and wellness initiatives,” says Kerry Kelly, MPH, Community Health Manager, Renown Health. “We work with clinical experts and community partners to develop approaches that target the social determinants of health, to complement our healthcare system’s current services, offering quality, affordable healthcare to everyone, and improving the overall health of our community.”

For more information on Renown’s Community Commitment, visit renown.org/About/Community-Commitment.

As the region’s only Level 2 Trauma Center for adults and children, Renown serves over 1 million people and 100,000 square miles. In U.S. News and World Report Best Hospital Rankings, Renown Regional Medical Center is named #1 Hospital for the State of Nevada for 2024, 2023 and 2022.

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