Bringing cardiac health to all

As a proud Baltimorean, pastor and former executive with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, I witness every day the legacy of Baltimore’s invention of redlining.

Too many communities have been walled off from access to health care and healthy food, causing dramatically lower life expectancy for our Black neighbors.

To address these inequities, we need new urgency, new thinking and a new model prioritizing Black health built for, and with, the communities it aims to serve (“MedStar opening new $6 million center designed to ease treatment for cardiovascular outpatients,” March 4).

We’re building a new initiative right here in Baltimore on the premise that quality health care doesn’t have to happen in a traditional health care setting. That initiative, “engAGE with Heart” is a community health effort designed to help people understand their cardiovascular risk, detect heart disease early and manage it effectively.

By partnering with local churches like mine and senior centers, it empowers our communities with heart health information, healthy food that tastes good and preventive cardiovascular screening. With trust at the foundation of our program, we’ve found that our congregations and communities are more motivated to make smarter hearthealth decisions.

In just the first few months, we have reached 26 unique ZIP codes and engaged over 65 individual neighborhoods in Maryland. And we’ve hosted 20 heart health-focused events with over 2,800 attendees.

All this adds up: We’ve reported an increase in heart disease awareness, found that the community is receptive to the information we’re sharing and have measurably increased trust in the health care offered in our communities.

The “engAGE with Heart” initiative provides the blueprint for creating a sustainable community health infrastructure, all while reducing health inequities and lowering costs.

We can’t stop now. The program continues to evolve to bring down stubborn health disparities. Working with our state and local partners, we must expand the effort to save Black lives across our communities.

— Terris A. King, Baltimore

The writer is pastor of Liberty Grace Church of God.