BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has selected Brownsville as one of four national sites for "Great Health for America.”
Great Health for America is two-year, $32 million federal pilot program aimed at improving child nutrition and combating pediatric chronic disease.
The announcement was made during a press conference held at the Mitte Cultural District, bringing together federal officials, municipal leaders, and local education authorities to outline how federal resources will directly target childhood diabetes and obesity in the border region.
The four speakers at the press conference were Brownsville Mayor John Cowen, Jr., Rear Admiral Paul Jung, M.D., the U.S. Deputy Surgeon General, state Sen. Adam Hinojosa, and the new superintendent of Brownsville ISD, Dr. Timothy E. Cuff.
Here is a video recording of the press conference:
Through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cooperative agreement, the designated local grantee in Brownsville will receive $4 million per year over the next two years. The initiative will deploy two commissioned U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) officers to serve on the ground in Brownsville, collaborating with local schools, health care providers, and community organizations to optimize nutrition and monitor child health outcomes in real time.
Deputy Surgeon General Jung emphasized that the program is designed to supercharge efforts already underway in South Texas rather than impose a top-down solution.
“Public Health Service officers will be there to listen, build relationships and work shoulder to shoulder with the people who know these communities best,” Jung said. “Our officers bring public health expertise, but local residents bring something just as important: an understanding of what their communities need. Bringing those strengths together is how we build solutions that can last.”
Jung added that Brownsville was chosen both for its historical challenges with chronic disease and for its active commitment to overcoming them. "Brownsville was selected because, unfortunately, it has a high rate of chronic disease, but also, more importantly, it has a community that's willing to step in and try to address the problems," Jung noted.
