Morrison Family College of Health
Your support prepares the next generation of health leaders to create healthier, more equitable communities.
Your support prepares the next generation of health leaders to create healthier, more equitable communities.
Accessing good health isn't just about care inside a health clinic. Good health is influenced by education, housing, access to nutritious food, clean air and water, financial stability, supportive family and friends, and more. Together, these factors account for nearly 80% of the conditions that produce good health, while health care accounts for just 20%.
At the Morrison Family College of Health, we will not settle for the status quo: a society where social status can predict how long you live or whether you will receive access to quality care.
Catholic social teaching calls upon us to uplift and serve the dignity of every person, and we are working to be a powerful, positive disruptor. A paradigm-shifter. A thought leader and innovator in education, unwavering in our inclusivity and ambitious in our creativity, intently focused on improving the health of individuals, families and communities. We are training a new kind of professional to create a better, more holistic kind of health care.
Even with accelerated spending, U.S. health care outcomes continue to worsen. And with the nation already facing an acute staffing crisis, the need for health care providers is projected to skyrocket in the coming years. We are addressing this growing need by building a pipeline of highly skilled, compassionate and culturally responsive health professionals that are in the highest demand.
Have questions or want to make a meaningful impact? Contact a gift officer to learn more.
Senior Director of Development, Morrison Family College of Health
(651) 962-6938
Rebuilding Fragmented Systems: The current health care landscape is challenging us to be bolder. Health care systems tend to be interventionist, fragmented and individualistic. We want to re-think how we approach health and design family- and community-centered systems, while addressing the needs of the whole person: physical, mental, social and spiritual.
Dedicated to Health Equity: The Morrison Family College of Health is designed to fill unmet needs in the community and for those who are underserved in society. Across Minnesota, in rural and urban communities, the social and economic influencers of health must be addressed to ignite structural change so that every person – no matter their background – can live a healthy life. Integrating different academic programs that hold the promise of new solutions to address the root causes of inequity will move us closer to staying strong, healthy and economically vibrant.
Growing Our Workforce: There is an acute need for nursing, mental health, social work, public health and other health services that help people, families and communities thrive. The Morrison Family College of Health equips students with technical skills, critical thinking skills and cultural competency skills to treat patients and help families by choice or birth stay healthy in a dynamic and rapidly changing world.
Your generosity fuels the Morrison Family College of Health's mission to prepare culturally responsive health professionals and create healthier communities.
Scholarships open the door for students with financial need to earn their degrees and become the health leaders our communities urgently need. Your gift also drives program innovation—attracting top faculty, inspiring new ideas, and preparing students to be bold disruptors in health care.
Be part of a groundbreaking effort to address the social factors that shape nearly 80% of health outcomes, from housing and nutrition to financial stability. Your support helps establish and expand this new center dedicated to advancing health equity and building healthier communities.
Launching a new college requires vision, energy, and resources. With your help, the Morrison Family College of Health can sustain its rapid growth, strengthen programs and continue challenging the status quo in health education.
Discover how the Morrison Family College of Health has transformed the lives of our students, enabling them to pursue their passions and achieve their academic goals.
The Founding Dean and Morrison Family Distinguished Chair
For Dr. MayKao Hang, developing the next generation of health leaders who respond to the people who live in our communities right now is critical.
"It is really about educating leaders who are going to go out into the world to have the moral courage and the cultural competency to deliver services...but can also advocate to highlight and remove the barriers for those who are underserved," says Dr. Hang. "The Morrison Family College of Health was built just five years ago from the ground up, so we were able to design this with the future in mind. That means being far more globally, ethically and technology oriented."
Leaving a Legacy
As leaders at St. Thomas for more than three decades, John and Sue Morrison have further cemented their legacy at the university as naming donors of the Morrison Family College of Health.
"I'm extraordinarily grateful to John and Sue and the Morrison family," says Dr. Julie Sullivan, President of the University of St. Thomas (2013-2022). "They share our excitement for this college's potential to address systemic health care challenges in our communities. This approach is fully aligned with our mission to produce graduates who can advance the common good."
Together we can prepare the next generation of health care professionals and solve systemic health care problems.