Grant Program: Strategic Research

Wisconsin performs below the U.S. average on most metrics of disparities in quality of care. Because of this, quality of care is often lower for minority, low income and uninsured populations. These disparities contribute to poor health outcomes for disadvantaged patients and need to be publicly reported and addressed via sustained, collaborative action.Conclusion: The project has already produced one major study, the WCHQ Health Disparities Report, which was released in the fall of 2019. The study identifies where gaps in health outcomes and care exist in Wisconsin and incorporates data categorized by race and ethnicity, insurance coverage and geography. Further work is ongoing.

The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and the UW School of Medicine and Public Health are partnering on an initiative to improve health equity in Wisconsin. MCW’s Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment (AHW) and the UW’s Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP), statewide health funders based at Wisconsin’s two medical schools, have announced a joint three-year, $3 million grant to launch an expansive new statewide partnership that will study, measure and recommend solutions for health inequities across the state of Wisconsin.