Merck Foundation's Health Equity Initiatives

Merck Foundation's Health Equity Initiatives is sponsored by Merck Foundation. Supports programs aimed at improving healthcare quality and capacity, with a focus on underserved populations and chronic conditions.

Merck Foundation Launches $22 Million Initiative to Improve Cardiovascular Care in the U.S. - Merck. com Merck Foundation Launches $22 Million Initiative to Improve Cardiovascular Care in the U.S. November 3, 2025 6:45 am EST Building on the Merck Foundation’s longstanding commitment to advancing access to high-quality health care, new national initiative supports grants to 11 organizations across the country RAHWAY, N. J.

--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Merck Foundation announced today the launch of the Collaborative for Equity in Cardiac Care, a $22 million, five-year initiative aimed at enhancing access to high-quality, person-centered health care for people living with heart conditions in the U.S. Eleven organizations are receiving grants to support the development and implementation of evidence-informed, comprehensive programs to improve health outcomes in communities where access to timely care for cardiovascular disease is a challenge.

“Cardiovascular disease continues to be the number one cause of death for men and women living in the U.S., and its burden hits under-resourced communities the hardest.

By addressing the medical and social needs of people living with heart conditions, the Collaborative for Equity in Cardiac Care will have a significant, lasting impact on the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities across the country,” said Kalahn Taylor-Clark, vice president and head, Social Impact & Sustainability, Merck.

The Foundation is providing grants to select non-profit health care and public health organizations working with local community-based groups. As a Collaborative, they will help bridge gaps in the delivery of care for a range of heart conditions and advance sustainable, and potentially scalable, approaches to improve the lives of people with heart disease.

Collaborative program grantees include: Capital Health System (Trenton, New Jersey) The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness (Madison, Wisconsin) Gallup Community Health (Gallup, New Mexico) Georgia State University Research Foundation/Atlanta Regional Collaborative for Health Improvement (Atlanta, Georgia) La Clínica del Pueblo (Washington, D. C.)

MedNorth Health Center (New Hanover, North Carolina) Providence Medical Foundation (Sonoma County, California) Public Health Institute/Population Health Innovation Lab (Lake County, California) University of Chicago (Chicago, Illinois) UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care (McKeesport, Pennsylvania) Zufall Health Center (Morris County, New Jersey) The Foundation is also supporting the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity as the Collaborative’s National Program Office (NPO), which will provide technical assistance to grantees as they build local partnerships and implement their programs.

The NPO will also foster peer-to-peer learning among grantees, conduct a cross-site evaluation and disseminate the Collaborative’s results and lessons learned. “Collaborative grantees serve a range of populations, and each one has firsthand experience in addressing the specific gaps in access to high-quality cardiac care in their communities,” says Lisa A.

Cooper, MD, MPH, MACP, director at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity and director of the Collaborative NPO.

“Bringing together these outstanding organizations to strengthen local partnerships and address the social and environmental factors that influence health will not only meet immediate patient need but also pave the way for sustained improvements in the delivery of cardiac care across the U.S.” The Collaborative for Equity in Cardiac Care builds on the Foundation’s legacy of investing in community-focused programs that improve access to high-quality health care in underserved communities, including the Alliance for Equity in Cancer Care , which is currently operating in seven states.

The Merck Foundation is a U.S.-based, private charitable foundation. Established in 1957 by Merck, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, the Foundation is funded entirely by the company and is Merck’s chief source of funding support to qualified non-profit charitable organizations.

Since its inception, the Foundation has contributed more than $1 billion to support important initiatives that address critical global health and societal needs that are consistent with Merck’s purpose: to save and improve lives around the world. For more information, visit https://www. merck.

com/company-overview/sustainability/philanthropy/ Source: Merck Sharp & Dohme Read our latest company statements. Access videos, logos, photos, and infographics. We are committed to providing leading innovations for today and the future that save and improve lives around the world.

Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co. , Inc., Rahway, N. J.

, USA This website of Merck & Co. , Inc., Rahway, N. J.

, USA (the “company”) includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties.

There can be no guarantees with respect to pipeline candidates that the candidates will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that they will prove to be commercially successful. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and the company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s Internet site ( www. sec. gov ).

The information contained in this website was current as of the date presented. The company assumes no duty to update the information to reflect subsequent developments. Consequently, the company will not update the information contained in the website and investors should not rely upon the information as current or accurate after the presentation date.