Renown Health Expands Their Not-for-Profit Mission, Partners with 51 Community Agencies to Address Area's Most Critical Healthcare Needs

Nonprofit organizations who received Better Together grants from Renown Health gather on the staircase for a group photo.

As Reno’s only locally owned, not-for-profit, integrated academic healthcare network, Renown Health and its health insurance organization, Hometown Health, reinvest every dollar earned back into the community; in expertise, technology, treatments, training, and research to improve health and prevent illness.

Today, the Renown Health senior leadership team, representing over 8,000 physicians and employees, took time to celebrate and provide grant funding, data and program operations support to 51 local not-for-profit partners to help address the area’s most critical healthcare needs and build a healthier Nevada.

View photos from the celebration here.

“For more than 160 years, Renown Health has worked to improve the health of our community,” said Brian Erling, MD, MBA, President & CEO of Renown Health. “As an essential community asset, and in affiliation with the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, we appreciate the trust placed in us and take this responsibility very seriously. Our commitment has grown and evolved through significant thought and care in considering our community’s most pressing health needs. By partnering with other mission-driven, nonprofit organizations we are working to address these issues, which include expanding access to care, enhancing affordability and ensuring that every person can live their healthiest and best life.”

He added, “Improving the health and wellness of an entire population of people is not easy. It is a huge task. We know that change is certain, and to take on the challenges ahead we must work together now, with those in the field, to ensure a bright and healthy future for our kids, grandkids, and future generations."

Renown Health has invested over $2 billion over the last ten years to support those in need- helping patients who are unable to afford their medical bills; training the next generation of doctors and clinicians; and funding hundreds of vital non-profit organizations to address critical social and health challenges.

“One way we keep our commitment to the community is through conducting a periodic, comprehensive Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA),” said Suzanne Bharati Hendery, Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer. “This includes gathering quantitative and qualitative data to guide both our organization’s community benefit and strategic planning. Through this process we have identified the greatest health needs among our communities, enabling Renown Health to ensure our resources are appropriately directed toward outreach, prevention, education, and wellness opportunities where the greatest impact can be realized.”

The 51 not-for-profit local organizations recognized today have applied for and been selected to receive a Renown Health 2025 Community Grant for a project that addresses one or more of the three critical health care needs (Mental Health, Access to Healthcare and Community Services, Maternal and Child Health) of people living in the areas served by Renown Regional Medical Center and Renown South Meadows Medical Center.

Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association
Amplify Life
Baby's Bounty
Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows
Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada
Bristlecone Recovery Center
Cancer Community Clubhouse
Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada
City of Reno (Reno Adaptive)
Communities In Schools of Western Nevada
Crisis Call Center dba Crisis Support Services of Nevada
Disability Resources Inc.
Domestic Violence Resource Center
DOULA CO-OP of Nevada
Education Alliance of Washoe County
For Kids Foundation
Forever14
Girl Scouts of the Sierra Nevada
High Fives Foundation
High Sierra Area Health Education Center
Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada WIC
Join Together Northern Nevada
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Nevada
National Fitness Campaign
Neighbor Network of Northern Nevada (N4)
Nevada Rural Hospital Partners Foundation
Washoe Suicide Prevention Alliance (WSPA)
Nevada Women's Fund
Northern Nevada HOPES
Northern Nevada Maternal & Child Health Coalition
Project Marilyn
Project STAY
Quest Counseling & Consulting
RennerVation Foundation
Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern Nevada
Safe Kids Washoe County
Safe Talk For Teens
Sierra Nevada Journeys
Southern Mono Healthcare District
STEP2
Tahoe Family Solutions
The Children's Cabinet
The Food Bank of Northern Nevada
The Trauma Intervention Program of Northern Nevada (TIP of NNV)
ThinkFirst Nevada
Truckee Meadows Tomorrow
University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine Sanford Center for Aging
Urban Roots Garden Classroom
Veterans Guest House
Volunteers of America NCNN
Washoe County Behavioral Health Crisis Response System

This follows a rigorous and thorough scoring process by a panel of public health experts, designed to ensure fairness, transparency and the selection of the most impactful projects, these 501©(3) organizations have been awarded grants determined by their alignment with priority populations, the scope of work, and the strength of their project plans. The Renown’s Community Benefit grant funding process for 2025 is now complete. It is anticipated that the grant funding process will open again in 2026.

The success of the health system’s partnerships in improving the health of Washoe County is measured in the health statistics and data that are reported at the local, state, and national level on the website, NevadaTomorrow.org.

The Community Benefit program supports Renown Health’s commitment to caring for the people of northern Nevada. Notably, Renown provides 66.5% of hospital services in the Reno/Sparks, NV area and 72.2% of Medicaid and uninsured care in the region. In Calendar Year 2023, Renown Health provided $274.M in Community Benefit, predominantly for unreimbursed healthcare services, community health improvement and health professions education.

“Our Community Health Program supports Renown’s mission, vision and values in a very tangible way; by identifying the most urgent health care needs, and directing allocated resources more effectively for outreach, prevention, education and wellness initiatives,” says Kerry Kelly, MPH, Community Health Manager, Renown Health. “We work with clinical experts and community partners to develop approaches that target the social determinants of health, to complement our healthcare system’s current services, offering quality, affordable healthcare to everyone, and improving the overall health of our community.”

For more information on Renown’s Community Commitment, visit renown.org/About/Community-Commitment.

As the region’s only Level 2 Trauma Center for adults and children, Renown serves over 1 million people and 100,000 square miles. In U.S. News and World Report Best Hospital Rankings, Renown Regional Medical Center is named #1 Hospital for the State of Nevada for 2024, 2023 and 2022.

Reno is Home to Chief Marketing Officer to Know: Suzanne Hendery of Renown Health, Named to Becker's National List

Becker’s Hospital Review’s annual list of Chief Marketing Officers to Know has been published, recognizing professional healthcare leaders across the country who specialize in branding, marketing and communications. Suzanne Hendery, MA, APR, CPXP of Renown Health, Reno’s only not-for-profit, academic health care organization, is one of the 78 professional hospital and healthcare communicators nationally to be listed, and the only one from Nevada. “The driven, innovative thinkers featured on this list are responsible for implementing impactful marketing strategies for their hospitals and health systems. Utilizing brand building, data analysis, business-to-business and business-to-consumer outreach, partnerships, social media and beyond, these executives lead with creativity and precision. This list celebrates chief marketing officers for their outside-the-box thinking and award-winning creative strategies,” writes Anna Falvey of Becker’s Healthcare. “We are proud to showcase these accomplished professionals, whose work plays a vital role in the success and growth of their organizations. Anna Falvey writes, “Suzanne Hendery. Chief Marketing and Customer Officer at Renown Health (Reno, Nev.). Ms. Hendery works with Renown Health’s CEO, executive team and key stakeholders to create engaging communications and exceptional experiences for customers. She oversees marketing and communications, the customer service call center, customer experience and community health for the largest integrated health system in Nevada, with hospitals and outpatient centers serving 1 million people. Their brand campaign, “Fight the Good Fight,” new website and online physician ratings led Renown to become a premier brand position in the market and a statewide leader. A recent employee referral and recruitment campaign yielded 1,000 new clinicians in just one year. Ms. Hendery has implemented a new initiative focusing on online scheduling for adult primary care and pediatric visits, with the goal of reaching 80% of all patients via online scheduling. This initiative allows patients to learn about different physicians, as well as schedule and receive appointment reminders in both English and Spanish.” Hendery has over 25 years of experience as a health care executive specializing in listening to and engaging key stakeholders to create engaging communications and exceptional experiences that delight customers and transform organizations. She is a nationally recognized leader in successfully implementing customer-centered, enterprise-wide digital transformation and branding efforts to build preference, loyalty and drive revenue and growth. Hendery earned her M.A. in Marketing Communications from the University of Connecticut, is a lecturer at Harvard University, a member of the American Marketing Association Health Care Executive Board, Accredited as APR by the Public Relations Society of America, serves as a national board member for the American Hospital Association’s Board of the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. Hendery was selected as the 2020 "Marketing Person of the Year” by the Healthcare and IT Marketing Community (HITMC), and appointed to the Editorial Advisory Board of Strategic Health Care Marketing in 2021. Hendery and her teams have won numerous international and national awards for their outstanding contributions and best practices in healthcare marketing, branding, patient experience and community engagement programs. Suzanne Hendery is a member of the executive leadership team at Renown Health. She is a frequent contributor and speaker for the American Marketing Association, HIMSS, The Forum for Healthcare Strategists, the Healthcare Executive Forum, American Hospital Association, Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD), Healthcare Marketing & Physician Strategies Summit, Becker’s, Modern Healthcare. Note: Leaders cannot pay for inclusion on this list.

Renown Health's CEO, Dr. Brian Erling, Recognized as a Great Leader in Healthcare 2025 by Becker's National Hospital Review

Renown Health is proud to announce that Brian Erling, MD, MBA, President & CEO has been recognized as a “Great Leader in Healthcare for 2025” by Becker’s Hospital Review.

Renown Leadership

Renown Welcomes Jim D. Thomas as Vice President, Data Center and Networks

Renown Health is pleased to announce the appointment of Jim D. Thomas, CHCIO, MBA as the new Vice President for Data Center and Networks. With a distinguished career in healthcare technology and executive leadership, Jim brings a wealth of experience and expertise to overseeing data center operations, network, and infrastructure engineering/architecture for Nevada’s largest, not-for-profit integrated academic healthcare network serving over 1 million residents across Nevada, Lake Tahoe, and northeast California. Mr. Thomas begins his new role on March 31, 2025, and joins Steven Ramirez, VP and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Kathleen Zaski, Vice President of Enterprise IT Applications, in reporting to Chuck Podesta, Chief Information Officer for Renown Health.

View All Press Releases