Making a Healthy Difference.
The Paso del Norte Health Foundation is celebrating 25 years of improving health and preventing disease in the Paso del Norte region. Follow the timeline below on our legacy of leadership and grantmaking in health over the years.
Paso del Norte Health Foundation forms with $130 million in proceeds from the sale of Providence Memorial Hospital to Tenet Healthcare Corporation.
Health Foundation Board and community councils throughout the region work on vision, mission and plans for a Healthy Paso del Norte.
Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) promotes healthy eating and increases exercise levels in partnership with more than 70 public, private and parochial schools and 80,000 elementary school children and families through school-based programs.
Walk El Paso mobilizes the sedentary population through fun, interactive walking groups. Program expands to include Walk Dona Ana, Walk Otero, Camino Juarez.
It Takes Two Pregnancy Prevention develops and implements practical strategies for reducing teen pregnancy in El Paso County.
Action for Youth prevents high-risk behaviors among youth ages 12-18, such as drug, alcohol and tobacco use, and promote the development of healthy youth with more than 200 schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses and churches worked with youth and parents in 11 selected communities.
Center for Border Health Research supports a regional research agenda to provide insight into and address better health outcomes for the Hispanic population.
Ageless Health promotes independent, healthy living and prevention of isolation for persons 60 years-of-age and older in the region.
Begin at Birth! improves the overall health, safety and well-being of children 0-3 years-of-age, through high childcare standards, caregiver education and fatherhood engagement. Newborn calendars with health tips are provided to all hospitals in the region for new parents.
A Smoke Free Paso del Norte reduces smoking rates among youth, pregnant women, people living with small children and those who lack the resources. City of El Paso adopts a smoke-free ordinance in 2001 with other cities in the region to follow. Smoking rates decrease from 24% to 12% in El Paso County alone.
Qué Sabrosa Vida promotes healthy nutrition and physical activity, while supporting the rich tradition and cultural aspects of regional diet.
Healthy Homes and Handwashing encourages handwashing to improve personal hygiene and aid in the reduction of communicable illness and disease.
Adopted the City of El Paso Smoke Free Ordinance
KidFit and Step it Up encourages kids and their families to make healthier eating choices and increase physical activity and decrease sedentary lifestyles of adults.
Two Should Know reduces poor health outcomes, such as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), unintended pregnancies and sexual violence/abuse, and promotes healthy sexuality.
Texas Tech Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Forgivable Loan Fund - provides forgivable loans to medical students establishing practices in El Paso after completing medical school and residencies with the goal of improving the doctor/patient ratio in region.
Get Health Initiative Program (HIP) integrates a health curriculum into core subject areas (math, language arts, social studies and sciences, and physical activity) for more than 43,000 kindergarteners through 8th grade students from 74 schools.
Children’s Health Insurance Enrollment outreach increases enrollment in health insurance for qualified working families in partnership with La Fe and Texas A&M promotora program.
University of Texas at El Paso Simulation Laboratory develops a state-of-the-art clinical practice simulation laboratory for training of nursing and allied health students to provide opportunities for continuing professional education for licensed health professionals in the region.
Baby Café improves access to information, training and support services to increase breastfeeding in the region in partnership with UMC El Paso and Texas Tech University.
Tigua Smoke-Out provides tobacco cessation and youth tobacco prevention education to members of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo.
REALIZE Executive leadership development program trains already effective leaders into transformational leaders for the benefit of the region’s health with more than 100 graduates in El Paso, southern New Mexico and Ciudad Juarez.
Regional Strategic Health Framework gathers health leaders in the region to establish regional health priorities including Healthy Eating and Active Living, Tobacco and Alcohol Control, Mental Health and Emotional-Well-being, Healthy Relationships, and Health Leadership.
Paso del Norte Health Information Exchange (PHIX HIE) allows hospitals and other medical providers to exchange clinical data using electronic means with the goal of improving patient care.
El Paso Psychology Internship Consortium trains psychology post-doctoral students to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health service in the border region in partnership with the Hogg Foundation and local universities.
Paso del Norte Institute for Healthy Living establishes a center of excellence at the University of Texas at El Paso for healthy eating and active living.
Enroll El Paso supports outreach efforts to help residents select healthcare insurance options with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act in partnership with the United Way.
IGNITE Initiative provides grants to partner organizations working with families, community organizations and schools to offer positive out-of-school time programs designed to increase the protective factors and decrease risky behaviors among disconnected youth across the region.
Paso del Norte Community Foundation supports the philanthropic goals of individuals, families, corporations, foundations and nonprofit organizations to improve health, education, social services, economic development, and quality of life in the binational, tri-state region. Launches the Challenge Fund in 2014 and El Paso Giving Day in 2016 to grow resources for nonprofit organizations.
Think.Change Initiative dedicates resources to reduce negative bias associated with mental illness funding programs like Mental Health First Aid across the region.
El Paso Behavioral Health Consortium coordinates improvements to the behavioral health system in El Paso County working through strategies associated with justice, families and integration of care.
Fundacion Paso del Norte para la Salud y Bienestar supports programs that improve the quality of life of children, youth and families in the region by leading, advancing and promoting initiatives, programs and partnerships for health and well-being in partnership with the Hunt Family Foundation challenge fund.
REALIZE BOARD provides training to nonprofit organization board members and staff to ensure excellence in governance in partnership with BoardSource and the United Way of El Paso County.
Social Host Ordinance adopted by City of El Paso reduces underage and binge drinking by assessing civil penalties to adults that host parties that include minors and alcohol.
Texas Tech Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine begins planning for a new dental school to increase awareness and importance of oral health and supply future dentists and hygienists.
Playa Drain Trail provides 3.4-miles of hike/bike trail from Ascarate Park to Riverside High School that makes active living the easy choice for residents in the region.
Housing Authority of the City of El Paso adopts a smoke-free policy for all of its 52 housing communities - the 14th largest Public Housing Authority in the nation and largest in Texas – to reduce smoking and second-hand smoke.
Texas 21 increases the legal age for the sale, possession and consumption of tobacco products across Texas.
Trauma Informed Care Learning Community launches with at least seven community organizations and to increase the number of mental health providers that serve children and adolescents who are trained in evidence-based therapeutic approaches and trauma informed care practices.
A message from the CEO on COVID-19
The Paso del Norte Health Foundation is deeply committed to the health and safety of the residents of our region. We created the El Paso COVID-19 Information Hub and, in partnership with the Fundación Paso del Norte, the Juárez COVID-19 Information Hub, to help individuals and families navigate COVID-19, including important health, education and economic resources for parents, veterans, employers and employees. The websites are updated daily. Please share widely with colleagues, family and friends.
Additionally, the Paso del Norte Community Foundation is working with multiple community partners on seven different COVID-19 Response Funds supporting a range of needs in our binational community from funds to support the purchase of PPE for first responders in El Paso and Ciudad Juárez to funds supporting the most vulnerable including homeless, elderly and food insecure.
Health Priorities, Initiatives & Programs
The Health Foundation seeks to improve health in five priority areas: Healthy Eating & Active Living; Tobacco & Alcohol Prevention; Mental Health & Emotional Well-Being; Healthy Kids; and Health Leadership. Learn more about our Health Priorities, Initiatives and Programs.
Region
We serve 2.4 million people from three states across two countries - Luna, Doña Ana and Otero Counties of New Mexico, El Paso and Hudspeth Counties of Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Investing in Health
We have granted more than $198.6 million to 300+ organizations across the Borderplex and completed 2019 with $249.3 million in assets, up from $130 million in 1996, keeping administrative expenses below 1%.
PDN Health Data Center
PDN Health Data Center is a free, publicly available resource for population data and community health information for the Paso del Norte region.
Playa Drain Trail
The Paso del Norte Health Foundation partnered with the City of El Paso and El Paso Water in 2018 to design and build a 3.4-mile multi-use hike and bike trail from Ascarate Park to Riverside Park on the historic Playa Drain.
The new trail is designed to make active living the easy choice for residents in the region and as an alternative to driving for near-by residents. The trail has several amenities such as seating and shade structures, water fountains, sunscreen stations, bicycle repair…
News
A Tribute to Myrna J. Deckert
September 18, 2020
For the lives she touched, contributions she made, and legacy she leaves
Myrna served as CEO of YWCA El Paso del Norte Region for more than 30 years, growing the organization from an annual budget of $150,000 when she joined in 1970 to over $35 million when she retired in 2002, making it the largest YWCA in the country. However, those numbers do little to actually illustrate the impact Myrna had on YWCA and the El Paso community. She was an incredible leader who is largely responsible for creating the YWCA we all know today.
In her time as CEO, Myrna engaged…
From Our Team
Border Partners is sparking change for neighboring communities
Posted on August 13, 2020 by Jana Renner
Now more than ever it’s important to work together to create opportunities for our community and help change the lives of our neighbors. That idea is the driving force behind one of the Paso del Norte Health Foundation’s Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) grantees, Border Partners, and it’s an idea that is closely tied to the Health Foundation’s goals.
Border Partners is now in its sixth year as a HEAL grantee. The nonprofit works to deliver programs to residents of the small border colonia of Puerto Palomas, Mexico, which suffers from the many effects of poverty, including poor diet…