{"id":3676309,"date":"2025-10-31T15:02:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T19:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vip2-msd.com\/merckcom-migrated\/?page_id=3676309"},"modified":"2025-10-31T15:04:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T19:04:39","slug":"advancing-access-to-cardiovascular-care-in-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vip2-msd.com\/merckcom-migrated\/company-overview\/sustainability\/philanthropy\/advancing-access-to-cardiovascular-care-in-the-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Advancing access to cardiovascular care in the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"text-hero-block mccberg-block mt-2 mb-2\">\n\t<nav class=\"breadcrumbs wrapper text-descriptive\"aria-label=\"Breadcrumbs\"><\/nav>\t    <h1 class=\"heading\"> <\/h1>\t<p>  <\/p>\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div id=\"mco-title-block-block_2f9b62c797f552655ac9ec011761b772\" \n\t class=\"mco-title-block mccberg-block mt-2 mb-2 has-background full negative\" \n\t style='background-image: url(https:\/\/vip2-msd.com\/merckcom-migrated\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/152\/2025\/10\/Wellness-retreat-exercise_LO.jpg?w=1600);'\t >\n\t<div class=\"wrapper\">\n\t\t<div class=\"mco-title-block-content\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"mco-title-block-title\"> <\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"mco-title-block-description\"><h1><\/h1>\n<h1><\/h1>\n<h1><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Advancing access to cardiovascular care in the U.S.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the most pressing health challenges in the United States, affecting nearly half of all American adults.<sup>1<\/sup> This broad category of conditions &#8212; including heart disease, heart attacks, stroke and heart failure &#8212; continues to grow in prevalence due to risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and smoking.<sup>2,3<\/sup><br><br>Despite significant medical advances, many individuals continue to face barriers to timely, high-quality cardiac care because of social and environmental factors that impede access to health services.<sup>4<\/sup> These challenges are widespread, affecting people in both rural and urban areas, particularly those from racial and ethnic minority groups or low-income communities. The barriers are often most severe in places where health care infrastructure is limited or care is fragmented.<sup>5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Collaborative for Equity in Cardiac Care: A Merck Foundation initiative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Merck Foundation (the \u201cFoundation\u201d) is supporting the Collaborative for Equity in Cardiac Care (the \u201cCollaborative\u201d) in the U.S. with a commitment of $22 million over five years (2025 \u2013 2030). The Collaborative is a national, multi-site initiative to improve access to high-quality, person-centered care for people with heart conditions living in U.S. communities that face long-standing barriers to health care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Collaborative goals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As a collective, the Collaborative program grantees aim to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Redesign primary care by promoting person-centered, holistic approaches to meet the medical and social needs of people living with heart conditions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Build sustainable community partnerships to address barriers to cardiac care<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Improve health outcomes and quality of life for people living with heart conditions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Disseminate findings and lessons learned to improve the delivery of cardiac care<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Collaborative for Equity in Cardiac Care program grantees<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Foundation is providing grants to a select group of nonprofit health care and public health organizations working with local community-based groups. Together they will implement evidence-informed, community-focused programs to help bridge gaps in cardiac care with the goal of improving health outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The program grantees are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.capitalhealth.org\/medical-services\/institute-for-urban-care\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Capital Health System<\/a> | Trenton, New Jersey<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ffbww.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Foundation for Black Women\u2019s Wellness<\/a> | Madison, Wisconsin<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/gallupcommunityhealth.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gallup Community Health<\/a> | Gallup, New Mexico<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/archicollaborative.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Georgia State University\/Atlanta Regional Collaborative for Health Improvement<\/a> | Atlanta, Georgia<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lcdp.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">La Cl\u00ednica del Pueblo<\/a> | Washington, D.C.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mednorth.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MedNorth Health Center<\/a> | New Hanover County, North Carolina<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.providence.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Providence Medical Foundation<\/a> | Sonoma County, California<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/pophealthinnovationlab.org\/\">Public Health Institute\/Population Health Innovation Lab<\/a> | Lake County, California<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchicagomedicine.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">University of Chicago<\/a> | Chicago, Illinois<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.upmchighvaluehealthcare.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care<\/a> | McKeesport, Pennsylvania<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zufallhealth.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Zufall Health Center <\/a>| Morris County, New Jersey<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/publichealth.jhu.edu\/center-for-health-equity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity<\/a> serves as the National Program Office (NPO) for the Collaborative. The NPO will provide technical assistance to program grantees, foster peer-to-peer learning and collaboration, conduct a comprehensive cross-site evaluation and disseminate program results and lessons learned through the Collaborative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>American Heart Association. (2019). <em>Cardiovascular diseases affect nearly half of American adults, statistics show<\/em>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart.org\/en\/news\/2019\/01\/31\/cardiovascular-diseases-affect-nearly-half-of-american-adults-statistics-show\">https:\/\/www.heart.org\/en\/news\/2019\/01\/31\/cardiovascular-diseases-affect-nearly-half-of-american-adults-statistics-show<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>American Heart Association. (2024, January 10). <em>What is cardiovascular disease?<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart.org\/en\/health-topics\/consumer-healthcare\/what-is-cardiovascular-disease\">https:\/\/www.heart.org\/en\/health-topics\/consumer-healthcare\/what-is-cardiovascular-disease<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Joynt Maddox, K. E., Elkind, M. S., Aparicio, H. J., Commodore-Mensah, Y., de Ferranti, S. D., Dowd, W. N., &#8230; American Heart Association. (2024). Forecasting the burden of cardiovascular disease and stroke in the United States through 2050\u2014Prevalence of risk factors and disease: A presidential advisory from the American Heart Association. <em>Circulation, 150<\/em>(4), e65\u2013e88.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2024). Ending Unequal Treatment: Strategies to Achieve Equitable Health Care and Optimal Health for All. National Academies Press. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.17226\/27820\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.17226\/27820<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Son, H., Zhang, D., Shen, Y., Jaysing, A., Zhang, J., Chen, Z., Mu, L., Liu, J., Rajbhandari-Thapa, J., Li, Y., &amp; Pag\u00e1n, J. A. (2023). Social determinants of cardiovascular health: A longitudinal analysis of cardiovascular disease mortality in U.S. counties from 2009 to 2018. <em>Journal of the American Heart Association, 12<\/em>(2), e026940.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1161\/JAHA.122.026940\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1161\/JAHA.122.026940<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advancing access to cardiovascular care in the U.S. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the most pressing health challenges in the United States, affecting nearly half of all American adults.1 This broad category of conditions &#8212; including heart disease, heart attacks, stroke and heart failure &#8212; continues to grow in prevalence due to risk factors [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":841,"featured_media":0,"parent":742675,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"bdl_company_name":[],"bdl_item_external_link":[],"inpsyde_pem_expiration_date":[],"inpsyde_pem_expiration_action":[],"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3676309","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.9.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Advancing access to cardiovascular care in the U.S. - Merck.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vip2-msd.com\/merckcom-migrated\/company-overview\/sustainability\/philanthropy\/advancing-access-to-cardiovascular-care-in-the-u-s\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Advancing access to cardiovascular care in the U.S. - Merck.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Advancing access to cardiovascular care in the U.S. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the most pressing health challenges in the United States, affecting nearly half of all American adults.1 This broad category of conditions &#8212; 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