The GW Medical Center received a $5 million grant to serve as the national program office for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s latest commitment to improving health care in the United States. The initiative titled, “Aligning Forces for Quality,” is the largest effort of its kind ever undertaken by a U.S. based philanthropy.

Aligning Forces currently includes 14 communities across the country, some representing major metropolitan and rural areas, and others representing entire states. The goals of the program are for these communities to improve health care in ways that are equitable, patient-centered, and sustainable over time.

Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH, research professor and director of the Center for Health Care Quality in GW’s Department of Health Policy in the School of Public Health and Health Services, will serve as the director of the program. “I am deeply honored to help the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in its efforts to improve the quality of health care for all Americans,” said Siegel. “This initiative will be a catalyst for change in health care. We want to be able to point to the Aligning Forces communities and say that we’ve made a difference in people’s lives.”

As part of this commitment, GW’s Department of Health Policy will coordinate the overall program, provide expert advice and support to the leadership teams funded in each community and a wide range of support to doctors, hospital health plans, and others in each community.

For more information, read the GW Medical Center press release.