Informing policy. Improving health.
The Kansas Health Institute (KHI) delivers objective information, conducts credible research, and supports civil dialogue enabling policy leaders to make informed health policy decisions that enhance their effectiveness as champions for a healthier Kansas. Established in 1995 with a multiyear grant from the Kansas Health Foundation, KHI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization based in Topeka.
The Kansas Health Foundation made its commitment to fund KHI's educational mission to deliver in-depth, nonpartisan information, research and insights based on the conclusion that health policy decisions often were based on fragmented, anecdotal and sometimes biased information. At the time of its founding, KHI was unique in its status as a health policy-focused educational organization that was independent, non-university based, and supported primarily through philanthropy. Since then, other states such as Colorado and Ohio have established institutes with a similar model.
KHI faculty and staff are drawn from diverse disciplines including medicine, public and community health, health policy and management, law, anthropology, political science, sociology, health administration, communications, journalism, and business.
KHI continues to be supported by a core-operating grant from the Kansas Health Foundation, and also obtains funding from other regional and national foundations and state and federal agencies.
Vision, Mission and Core Values
Our Vision
Healthier Kansans through effective policy.
Our Mission
Improve the health of Kansans through nonpartisan research, education and engagement that support effective policymaking.
To achieve our vision and mission, we believe that a broad approach is needed. To make decisions that improve the health of Kansans, policymakers must understand how our health is influenced by a range of factors. Among these are the lifestyle choices we make; our socioeconomic status; our diversity; our schools; the quality and connectedness of our communities; and the financing, organization and effectiveness of our public health and health care systems.
KHI carries out its mission of helping policymakers understand the linkages between these factors and the health of Kansans in several ways. We provide educational forums, conduct research and policy analysis, and convene conversations.
Our Core Values
- Health is an essential component of well-being.
- A number of social and community factors, in addition to medical care, are important in determining how healthy we are as communities and as a state.
- Transformation of the health system is necessary to better focus on improving the health of populations.
- Improving the health of our state as a whole requires addressing disparities in health that exist among vulnerable populations.
- Health improvement efforts should incorporate a life-course perspective placing appropriate emphasis on prevention and early childhood.
- More effective framing of health policy issues will assist policymakers in better understanding the problems and identifying effective policy options.
- All educational material provided by KHI will be nonpartisan, data-driven and evidence-based.
- Public and private partnerships and collaboration with strong, independent organizations (including government, higher education, philanthropy, nongovernmental organizations and private business) are necessary to improve health.
- We will be effective stewards of the resources entrusted to us.
- We will value our employees and invest in their success.
NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATORY POLICY AS TO STUDENTS
The Kansas Health Institute admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs. Please call 785-233-5443 with any questions.
