News

Putting MacKenzie Scott’s $15 Million Gift to Work for the Health of our Region

December 10, 2024

When MacKenzie Scott gifted the Paso del Norte Health Foundation $15 million in November 2022, it wasn’t just a donation—it was an investment in the health of the people of El Paso, southern New Mexico, and Cd. Juárez and a vote of confidence in the Health Foundation’s ability to deploy resources to improve health and well-being in our region.

Founded in 1995, the Paso del Norte Health Foundation leads, leverages, and invests in initiatives, programs, and policies that promote health and prevent disease in three priority areas: healthy living, disease prevention and management, and health leadership. Since our inception nearly 30 years ago, the Health Foundation has invested over $260 million in partnership with over 300 nonprofit organizations and academic institutions to achieve our mission.

Our work has been rooted in collaboration with local partners – from grantees to members of coalitions like the El Paso Behavioral Health Consortium in El Paso and ROTMENAS in Cd. Juarez, Diabetes Alliance, Smoke/Vape-free Paso del Norte, and Borderland Out-of-School Time Network. We have made key investments in the population health ecosystem, from promotora outreach and health communications to health programming and occupations like the 68-mile Paso del Norte Trail and Texas Tech Hunt School of Dental Medicine. Our partnerships have made a measurable difference in public health, including the reduction in smoking rates from a high of 24% at the turn of the millennium to less than 13.5% today, which has resulted in a correlating decrease in lung disease. Our grantmaking ranges from improvements to individual health behaviors to larger systemic change.

And while health outcomes have improved in our region, there is considerable work to do.

MacKenzie Scott’s transformative gift became an opportunity to do more. Upon receiving the gift, the Health Foundation Board of Directors made the strategic decision to deploy the resources to support catalytic projects that would leverage the contribution to address immediate challenges and make long-term impacts.

To date, the Health Foundation has invested the MacKenzie Scott contribution in four key projects:

• $3 million to the El Paso Center for Diabetes to enhance services for the prevention and management of a disease that affects thousands in our community.
• $4.5 million in matching funds for UTEP Health to increase the graduation of nurses, physical therapists, and occupational therapists while developing a new simulation lab to train future health providers.
• $5 million to the Texas Tech Health Fox Cancer Center to recruit top-tier cancer specialists, patient navigators, and a center director—critical steps toward improving cancer care and outcomes.
• $499,554.00 to the Boys & Girls Club of Las Cruces to support disconnected youth, providing essential resources to empower the next generation.

We are profoundly grateful to MacKenzie Scott for her generosity and investment in our community. Her contribution empowers us to invest in needed health programs and challenges us to think bigger, act faster, and collaborate even more with those on the frontlines of prevention and care. Her contribution also sends a message of belief—that the health of our community matters and that we can leverage investments like these to do more—to expand access to care and improve health outcomes.

With the dedication of our community partners and the support of philanthropists like MacKenzie Scott – and investments large and small – together, we can achieve our vision that the residents of our region have the knowledge, resources, environment, and support to live happy, healthy, and productive lives.

To learn more about the work of the Paso del Norte Health Foundation, visit pdnhf.org.