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The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth and MedStar Mobile Healthcare are working together to promote health in North Texas.

Leaders from the two health care entities recently signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines a formal working relationship aimed at enhancing health education and training, research and the delivery of health care services in the community.

The pairing of HSC and MedStar is a natural fit. Patient-centered care, community health outreach and innovation are at the heart of both organizations’ missions and values.

The two organizations will collaborate on big-picture health issues in the community. These could include raising awareness about local health and service needs, advocating for values-based models of care, working together on training and research projects and collaborating on grant funding.

The main goal laid out in the agreement is to create a healthier population in North Texas, said Jessica Rangel, HSC’s executive vice president of health systems.

“The MedStar team boasts a long track record of collaboration, innovation and community service, which aligns with HSC’s mission and values,” she said. “By combining our resources, experience and passion to serve, HSC and MedStar can make a meaningful impact on the health of our communities.”

The agreement outlines some specific details about how the partnership will work. MedStar will provide health and safety data to HSC for academic research; create training opportunities and educational events for HSC students; and seek out mutually beneficial grants and partnerships for innovative health care programs among other activities.

HSC will help MedStar develop training modules on current health care issues; consult MedStar on emerging health care issues; seek out grants and partnership opportunities; and make other contributions.

“MedStar is thrilled to expand our relationship with HSC,” said MedStar CEO Kenneth Simpson. “We are building on our existing partnerships that address community health needs such as fall-risk identification in the elderly for EMS patients, improving first responder and dementia caregivers to improve older adult EMS outcomes and age-friendly emergency medicine services. This enhanced partnership will take EMS care delivery to a new, transformative direction and help prepare MedStar and HSC to meet the changing EMS needs of our community.”

MedStar is the regional governmental agency that provides emergency and non-emergency ambulance services provider for 15 Tarrant County cities, including Fort Worth. The EMS agency provides ambulance and community paramedicine service to 436 square miles and more than 1.1 million residents and responds to more than 185,000 calls a year.

HSC is one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers, with five schools that specialize in patient-centered education, public health, research and health care. The HSC campus houses the first fully immersive virtual reality simulation center in Texas, one of the premier forensics labs in the country and myriad other cutting-edge health care- and research-related innovations.

Ultimately, Rangel added, the community will benefit from this historic partnership, as both entities continue to collaborate on innovative health care projects.

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