Podcast Summary: Advancing Health Equity Through Community-Driven Care at Cone Health

Podcast: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Episode: Advancing Health Equity Through Community Driven Care at Cone Health with Olu Jegede, MD
Date: February 13, 2026
Host: Mackenzie Bean (Becker’s Healthcare)
Guest: Dr. Olu Jegede, Senior Vice President & Chief Health Equity and Community Impact Officer, Cone Health

Episode Overview

This episode centers on Cone Health’s ambitious efforts to advance health equity through community-forward initiatives, featuring Dr. Olu Jegede. The conversation explores Cone Health’s innovative “CATCH 5 in 5” program, their focus on addressing both medical and non-medical drivers of health, the challenge of sustainability, and strategies for embedding equity into the fabric of the health system—making these practices inseparable from daily care.

Guest Introduction and Organizational Background

• Dr. Olu Jegede introduces himself (01:15), highlighting his background as a physician, particularly caring for sickle cell disease patients, and his executive leadership at Cone Health focused on health equity and community impact.
• About Cone Health:
  • Large integrated nonprofit system in North Carolina
  • 150+ care locations (5 hospitals, ambulatory centers, outpatient surgery, urgent care, 120+ physician practices)
  • 13,000+ team members, 1,650 physicians
• Dr. Jegede’s Role:
  • Sits at the intersection of strategy, care delivery, and community
  • Drives health equity strategy across the system by eliminating disparities, improving outcomes, and embedding equity into policy, care, and partnerships
  • Leads the “CATCH 5 in 5” initiative: “To increase life expectancy by five years in five years in those targeted zip codes that are impacted by lower life expectancy across our market.” (02:50)

Key Initiatives and Results

1. CATCH 5 in 5 Initiative (03:55)

• CATCH = Collaborative Actions toward Community Health
• Community-driven: Solutions designed with, not for, the community
• Components:
  • Community-based screenings for medical and non-medical drivers (mental health access, transportation, nutrition)
  • Focus on neighborhoods with the greatest disparities
• Results:
  • “We've seen double digit reductions in non-emergent emergency visits and meaningful decreases in inpatient admissions and readmissions in our targeted population.” (04:54)
  • Access to care improved; patients who previously lacked access are now supported

2. Blood Pressure Equity Program

• Focused on hypertension as a key health disparity
• Blood pressure control across the patient group increased from 64.9% to 70.5%; within the blood patient group, from 69.8% to 71.7% (06:00)
• Community Pharmacist Impact:
  • “In the subset of the patients that were assigned to this incredible pharmacy team, the blood pressure control improved from single digits around 7% to 63%.” (06:46)
• Program recognized with the 2025 Bernard G. Tyson Award for the Pursuit of Healthcare Equity (Joint Commission & Kaiser Permanente)
• “When we expand our care team and we leverage trusted community partners, we can make changes dramatically in our health outcomes.” (07:14)

Priorities, Challenges, and Health Equity Strategy (2026 and Beyond)

1. Big Priorities for 2026 (08:04)

• Addressing Social (Non-Medical) Drivers:
  • Housing, food access, transportation, financial mobility
  • Making screening of these drivers a "true north metric”: “That means screening every patient across every setting so we can proactively identify the barriers that impact health and health outcome and connect people to the right resources.” (08:44)
• Scaling Successful Programs:
  • Expanding CATCH 5 in 5 and strengthening transitional care
• Institutionalizing Equity:
  • Embedding equity into clinician education, policies, quality metrics, and leadership decisions
  • “The goal is to make health equity part of our work, not a separate initiative that we talk about.” (09:44)
• Main Headwind: Financial Sustainability
  • “The challenge is to ensure that health equity investments are not seen as optional add ons, but as essential drivers of quality, value, and long-term outcomes.” (10:04)

2. Role of Culture in Health Equity (10:40)

• Implicit Bias & Cultural Humility Training:
  • Essential for frontline staff and clinicians
  • “We're now treating everyone equally, but we are treating everyone equitably, giving each and individual patients what they need to remain as healthy as possible.” (10:53)

3. Expanding Access & Place-Based Intervention (11:28)

• Example: Resurgent Access Point
  • New care center in partnership with North Carolina A&T University
  • Delivers urgent care, primary care, and women’s health services in identified underserved areas
  • Responds to as much as a “15-year gap in life expectancy between some zip codes less than five miles apart.” (12:18)
• Mobile Health and Continued Community Screenings

Challenges and Opportunities Moving Forward

Hardest Challenge in the Next 12 Months (13:09)

• Sustainability (“building the plane as we fly it”):
  • Need for consistent financial, infrastructural, and leadership resources
  • Coping with evolving community needs, shifting policies, unstable healthcare economics

Biggest Opportunities for Growth (14:30)

• Value-Based Care:
  • “At Cone Health we define value based care as providing convenient personalized care that improves health, prevents illness and lowers costs.” (14:33)
  • Emphasis on prevention, care coordination, reductions in avoidable ED visits, and healthy communities
  • Aspires to be a “proven case study that there is value in equity driven care” (15:15)
• Cross-Sector Partnerships:
  • Collaborating beyond healthcare: schools, employers, government, faith organizations
  • “When all these organizations come together, including the health system, we are strongest and when we move together, we make bigger impact.” (15:44)
• Innovation in Care Delivery:
  • Transitional care, community health workers, digital/mobile outreach aimed at meeting people where they are
• Notable Quote:
  • “Your home address or zip code should not determine how long or how well you live.” (16:41)

Memorable Quotes

• Dr. Jegede:
  • “When you do health equity work, everyone wins.” (06:28)
  • “The goal is to make health equity part of our work, not a separate initiative that we talk about.” (09:44)
  • “We're now treating everyone equally, but we are treating everyone equitably, giving each and individual patients what they need to remain as healthy as possible.” (10:53)
  • “Your home address or zip code should not determine how long or how well you live.” (16:41)
  • “In many ways it's like we are building the plane as we fly it.” (13:30)
  • “When all these organizations come together, including the health system, we are strongest and when we move together, we make bigger impact.” (15:44)

Key Timestamps

• 01:15 – Dr. Jegede’s introduction and background
• 02:50 – Overview of the CATCH 5 in 5 initiative
• 03:55 – Community-driven program design and early results
• 06:00 – Blood pressure equity program details and success metrics
• 07:14 – National recognition for Cone Health’s equity efforts
• 08:04 – 2026 priorities: social drivers, scaling, and institutionalization
• 10:40 – Role of culture, implicit bias, and equity in care
• 11:28 – Expanding place-based care and new access points
• 13:09 – Main challenge: long-term sustainability
• 14:30 – Opportunities in value-based care, partnerships, and innovation
• 16:41 – Key equity philosophy: “Your home address or zip code should not determine how long or how well you live.”

Conclusion

Dr. Olu Jegede offers a compelling, practical, and optimistic look at what genuine, community-driven health equity can achieve—emphasizing rigorous measurement, broad partnerships, and a culture of humility and commitment. Cone Health’s journey showcases measurable impact while acknowledging ongoing challenges, especially sustainability and systemic change. The episode gives listeners a blueprint for embedding equity not as an add-on, but as an inseparable part of care delivery, offering valuable insights for anyone invested in the future of health systems.