Improving community health

Venita Owens dedicates career to serving the underserved

As president of the Baylor Scott & White Health and Wellness Center, serving south and southern Dallas, Venita Owens strives to bring equitable healthcare to underserved communities.

The Health and Wellness Center, established in 2010 as a public-private partnership between Baylor University Medical Center and the City of Dallas Park and Recreation, was initially tasked with addressing diabetes. Today, the center targets all chronic conditions in an effort to reduce and remove the barriers to improving health outcomes for the uninsured and underinsured.

The Health and Wellness Center has established a three-pronged approach to improve community health: access to clinical care, access to nutrition and health education, and physical activity. These tenets enable and empower patients and members in underserved communities to take charge of their healthcare journey and live well. Ensuring wellness, which is often low on the list for marginalized communities, given the myriad of other socioeconomic barriers, becomes a priority.

“Our goal is to connect members to needed resources and services to address all social determinants of health. We focus on their health and our community partners assist with income and employment, education, housing, and food insecurities, to name a few needs. Our hope is that health will move up on their list of priorities as they address other non-health social determinants of health. It takes a village and knowledge is power,” Venita said.

Outreach is key

Education and awareness are key to the center’s work. The population it serves is approximately 60% African American and 40% Hispanic. Seventy percent of the patients and members are female.

Venita said that women are more likely to seek out healthcare and education for themselves and their families. Outreach is done to meet men where they are in the community.

“We go to barber shops and other places where men spend their time,” Venita said.

After learning about health interventions, which include nutrition education, healthy ingredients and cooking tips, chronic disease management, and physical activity, patients and members are able to address their health concerns and manage their chronic diseases and live well.

“Our patients and members are amazed that they have access to all that is needed to improve their health, and these services are available in their own neighborhood versus having to take two to three buses to obtain,” Venita said. “In many cases, they are unaware that they have a chronic disease, so our outreach and community health screenings are a vital part of the awareness and education that is provided.”

Weekly farm stands, in partnership with Fresh Point and Aramark, offer a special service at the center and throughout the southern sector. The stands offer fresh fruits and vegetables to the community members at a reasonable price, and they also use these ingredients in weekly cooking demonstrations.

“Quality fruits and vegetables are a must,” Venita said. “Substandard items are not an option. Our care and services are the same as you would receive if you had insurance. We are very intentional about ensuring this level of care, and our community members love us for it.”

Earning the community’s trust

In June 2013, Venita joined the Health and Wellness Center as vice president and chief operating officer, and in July 2020, she was named president.

A few years before her arrival, the system renovated the Juanita J. Craft Recreation Center in south Dallas, which became the home of the Health and Wellness Center, providing clinical and wellness services and partnering with the City of Dallas Park and Recreation to provide physical activity.

In 2016, the Health and Wellness Center expanded to three and eventually another eight satellite locations throughout the southern sector of Dallas, branded the Healthy Cities initiative.

Venita said early in her tenure, members of underserved communities were hesitant to participate in Health and Wellness Center programs.

“They could not believe that our services were for them at no cost to them,” Venita said. “It took time for us to build their trust.”

Through outreach efforts, more than 10,000 members and patients have used the services over the past 15 years.

A reflection of the community

Venita takes immense pride in the demographics of her staff, whose employees are predominantly Black and Hispanic/Latino.

“We are intentional about our hiring and recruitment efforts,” she said. “We hire individuals from the community who look like our patients and members. Individuals want to see representation of themselves throughout all aspects and phases of their life.”

Black History Month provides a golden opportunity to revisit practices—and then carry them throughout the other 11 months of the year.

“Black History Month means awareness and celebration for this community,” Venita said. “We celebrate all communities at Baylor Scott & White Health, but at this time, we focus on African American communities and Black history. Being a Black individual, it is very personal to me that we pause in the month of February to celebrate our history and that we celebrate those individuals in Black communities who are working to help others. Our Health and Wellness Center staff is doing exactly that at exceptional levels.”​​​​​​​