HELP AND HOPE. Silencing the Stigma: JPS Citizens Healthcare Academy Changes Pastors’ Perspective on Care in Tarrant County.

 

HELP AND HOPE. Silencing the Stigma: JPS Citizens Healthcare Academy Changes Pastors’ Perspective on Care in Tarrant County.

From President and CEO Dr. Karen Duncan’s surprise pop quiz at the inaugural JPS Citizens Healthcare Academy to Tarrant County Commissioner Rodrick Miles’s closing remarks connecting health care with faith care, one message became clear: JPS is not the hospital many people remember from the past.

About 20 pastors and faith leaders from communities across Tarrant County—many with some of the county’s poorest health outcomes—took part in six weeks of training. They learned about JPS services and met with leaders across the network, exploring topics that included trauma care, women’s health, mental health and jail health care.

Some pastors entered the academy uncertain about the quality of care JPS provides. After listening, asking questions and learning about the network’s work, they left with a renewed sense of confidence in JPS and a better understanding of the resources they could share with their congregations and neighborhoods. That knowledge may also help pastors and community members make informed decisions as health care costs rise.

Compassionate Care Across the County

The academy introduced participants to a network of services that reaches beyond the hospital. JPS operates more than 25 community-based clinics and medical homes across Tarrant County, offering primary care for children, adults and seniors. Depending on the location, patients may also access women’s health care, dental care, behavioral health, pharmacy, laboratory and imaging services. Translation services are available, and select locations offer evening and weekend urgent care.

For families who need help with health care costs, the JPS Connection program can provide eligible Tarrant County residents access to regular checkups, specialty care and lower-cost prescriptions. JPS says uninsured patients who do not qualify for JPS Connection may receive a self-pay discount of at least 40% on their bill.

Pastors also learned about the breadth of JPS behavioral health care. The network offers outpatient and inpatient services, psychiatric emergency care, peer and family services, and case management through clinics and facilities across the county, including the Psychiatric Emergency Center and Trinity Springs Pavilion.

For people facing challenges beyond a medical diagnosis, JPS connects patients and families with community resources. Its Community Resource Specialists can help people find assistance with food, housing, utilities, transportation and other needs that affect health. They also help with applications for programs such as SNAP, Medicaid and CHIP.

Together, these programs give faith leaders practical information to share when a neighbor needs a doctor, a family is struggling to afford care or someone needs help navigating mental health or social services. JPS’s role in trauma care, women’s health, jail health care and medical training further underscored the many ways the network serves residents throughout the county.

Shannon Fletcher’s Vision

The academy grew from the vision of Shannon Fletcher, JPS vice president and chief of staff. A Fort Worth native, Fletcher brings extensive experience in nonprofit, government and public policy work.

Before joining JPS, she served as chief of staff for the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. She led its Chief of Staff Division and oversaw non-lawyer and non-investigator operations, including personnel, information technology, facilities, media, community outreach, the annual budget and the annual report.

Fletcher has been recognized by the Fort Worth Business Press as one of its “Great Women of Texas,” a “Top 40 Under 40” honoree and one of “20 Women to Watch.” She serves with Texas 2036 and on the TCU Neely Advisory Board. Her past board service includes United Way of Tarrant County, Tarrant Area Food Bank and Presbyterian Night Shelter.

The academy has opened a path for faith leaders to build relationships with JPS and bring what they have learned back to communities where the network’s reputation has not always reflected its current work.

Dr. Duncan’s Leadership and JPS’s Transformation

Dr. Karen Duncan, MD, MBA, is the chief architect of the transformational reforms taking place across JPS Health Network. She leads the public academic hospital, which is licensed for 582 beds and serves as Tarrant County’s only Psychiatry Emergency Center and longest-standing Level I Trauma Center. JPS also has the county’s largest family medicine residency program and is the only hospital in the United States certified for stroke, heart attack, sepsis and maternal levels of care.

With more than 30 years of experience in health care administration, clinical practice and education, Dr. Duncan has focused on patient-centered care, innovation, operational excellence and strategic collaboration. During her leadership, JPS became one of the first five hospitals verified through the American College of Surgeons’ Emergency General Surgery Verification Program. The network also formed a public-private partnership with Cook Children’s Health System to build a new health care center in the Las Vegas Trail neighborhood and earned the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Pathway to Excellence redesignation.

Dr. Duncan has prioritized workplace safety and a strong employee culture. JPS received the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award for three consecutive years. As CEO, she has led campus expansion and renovation efforts supported by an $800 million bond package. The network has held groundbreakings for a new Psychiatric Emergency Center, Medical Home Southwest and a new hospital—projects intended to expand access to behavioral health and primary care.

Her career includes executive leadership roles at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta and Cook County Health and Hospital System in Chicago. She practiced pediatrics for more than 20 years and served as medical director at Grady. Before joining JPS, she was a principal at Health Management Associates, advising publicly funded hospital systems, government entities and managed care plans.

A nationally recognized health care leader, Dr. Duncan serves as board chair of Tarrant Area Food Bank and is a member of the Teaching Hospitals of Texas Executive Committee. Fort Worth Inc. has included her among “The 400: Fort Worth’s Most Influential People” from 2022 through 2026.

She earned her medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine, completed her pediatric residency at University Hospitals in Cleveland, received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Smith College and completed the Executive MBA Program at Georgia State University.

A Spiritual Journey with Faith Leaders

The academy gave pastors a closer view of the people, services and investments shaping JPS today. It was also a spiritual journey, not a political one. Prayers were offered at each class, and JPS leaders and staff felt free to share their thoughts and faith with the pastors.

“As we work to silence the stigma about the JPS Health Network, it’s refreshing to know that this journey is a spiritual one and not simply a political one,” said Pastor Tatum. “Spirituality can help sustain people’s lives, and we are thankful that JPS leadership recognizes its importance in caring for patients.”

Members of the inaugural class are pledging to help silence the stigma, share the network’s progress and encourage their communities to learn more about the care available through JPS. They also intend to stand with Dr. Duncan and cheerlead for her leadership as she guides the network through a consequential period of change.

Their support reflects a growing belief that health care and faith communities can reinforce one another, especially when both are centered on serving people with compassion.

About Pastor Kyev Tatum

Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr. is pastor of New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth, founder of the church’s Health Clinic Without Walls and a member of the inaugural JPS Citizens Healthcare Academy class. His connection to JPS began at birth: born prematurely at the hospital on December 19, he remained in an incubator until Christmas Day, when he began breathing on his own. 

Pastor Tatum can be reached at 817-966-7625 or kptatum1@gmail.com. Visit www.newmountrose.com⁠.