Partnership in Prevention: OXIHER and the Excellence Fund

By Lea Witkowski-Purl | Photos: Steven Crimaldi

Ochsner-Xavier Institute for Health Equity and Research (OXIHER) is a community partnership committed to improving the overall health of all our communities, reducing health inequities, developing innovative healthcare delivery models and modeling equitable and respectful care. One of the pillars of the OXIHER Community Engagement framework is a faith-based approach to health outreach. On Sunday, November 6, 2022, we kicked off our pilot project at St. Anna’s Episcopal Church in the Tremé. The goal was to provide easy access to free flu shots as well as information about disease prevention and healthy lifestyles.

Yvens Laborde, MD, Medical Director of Global Health Education, serves as the physician lead of OXIHER’s community engagement pillar. This project was made possible in part by a grant from the Excellence Fund, Ochsner’s unrestricted source of support from donations. Over the past decade, your support of the Excellence Fund has enabled projects that would not be possible otherwise, like this Faith-Based Community Network project.

“Ochsner is committed to partnering with faith-based leaders to inspire healthier lives and stronger communities through the lens of equity,” said Dr. Laborde. “These community-centered activities exemplify that.”

The team administered more than 60 shots to a diverse group of community members throughout the afternoon and provided health and disease prevention information.

“This was a partnership among Ochsner, Xavier and the City of New Orleans,” said Steven Crimaldi, Manager of Strategy for the Healthy State program at Ochsner. “Truly a demonstration of the power of one.”

To learn more about the Excellence Fund, please visit ochsner.org/excellencefund

Dr. Yvens Laborde received the first flu shot at the flu shot fair at St. Anna’s Episcopal Church on November 6, 2022.