Risa Lavizzo-Mourey Quotes

Powerful Risa Lavizzo-Mourey for Daily Growth

About Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey is an esteemed American physician, public health advocate, and academic administrator. Born on March 14, 1957, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she was raised by her mother, a schoolteacher, and her stepfather, a civil rights attorney. Her upbringing fostered a deep commitment to social justice and an understanding of the power of education. Lavizzo-Mourey earned her Bachelor's degree in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University in 1978. She then attended Harvard Medical School, graduating in 1982. Her medical training took place at the New York Hospital – Cornell Medical Center and the University of Pennsylvania. Her career has been marked by a focus on health equity and prevention. From 1985 to 1996, she served as an attending physician at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she also led research efforts into obesity and its effects on children. In 1996, she joined Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) as a program officer, eventually rising to become its President and CEO from 2003 to 2017. Under her leadership at RWJF, she championed initiatives aimed at reducing health disparities, improving healthcare quality, and promoting healthy communities. One of her most notable contributions was the creation of the "Closing the Gap in a Generation" campaign, which sought to close racial and ethnic health disparities within a generation. Post-RWJF, Lavizzo-Mourey has served as a Senior Fellow at the National Philanthropic Trust and on various boards, including those of Johnson & Johnson, Anthem Inc., and Aetna. Her work continues to focus on health equity and prevention, shaping policy and inspiring change in public health. In her quotes, Lavizzo-Mourey often emphasizes the importance of addressing social determinants of health, the need for community engagement in healthcare, and the urgency of taking action to create a healthier nation. Her legacy in public health advocacy is significant and enduring.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The health of our communities is directly related to the social and economic conditions in which people live."

This quote underscores a fundamental truth about public health: the wellbeing of communities is heavily influenced by their socio-economic circumstances. It implies that factors such as income, education, housing quality, employment opportunities, access to healthy food, and community safety significantly impact the health outcomes of individuals within those communities. Improving these conditions can lead to better health for all residents, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to healthcare that addresses social determinants of health in addition to medical treatment.


"Investing in prevention can mean saving millions in treatment costs down the road."

This quote by Risa Lavizzo-Mourey emphasizes the strategic value of investing in preventative measures rather than solely relying on treatment, particularly in terms of healthcare costs. By allocating resources towards prevention, we can potentially mitigate expensive treatments that might be required later, resulting in significant savings over time. This approach not only reduces financial burden but also promotes a proactive and holistic healthcare strategy.


"We must work collaboratively across sectors to address the complex challenges we face in improving health."

This quote by Risa Lavizzo-Mourey emphasizes the need for collective effort and collaboration among different sectors when tackling intricate issues related to public health improvement. The statement implies that no single sector, be it governmental, non-governmental, private, or academic, can effectively address today's complex health challenges alone. Instead, by working together in a collaborative manner, various strengths and resources can be combined to create more effective solutions, ultimately leading to improved health outcomes for communities worldwide.


"Health care is a fundamental human right."

The quote "Healthcare is a fundamental human right" by Risa Lavizzo-Mourey signifies that every individual deserves access to quality healthcare without discrimination or financial hardship. It asserts that the ability to attain good health, both physical and mental, is not a privilege but an essential entitlement, vital for leading a productive and dignified life. The quote calls for universal healthcare policies that ensure equitable access to medical services regardless of socio-economic status, geographical location, or other factors that may otherwise hinder quality care.


"To improve the health of communities, we must empower individuals and families to make choices that lead to better health outcomes."

This quote suggests that community health improvement requires individual and family empowerment in making informed decisions that promote better health outcomes. Essentially, it implies that by giving people knowledge, resources, and support, they can actively participate in improving their own health and the health of their communities, ultimately leading to a more robust and healthy society as a whole.


Safe Routes to School is one with great potential to get children walking and biking to school again. The program uses federal grants to make road and sidewalk repairs aimed at getting kids to school safely on foot or bicycle. The money also supports efforts to get the community, school officials and others involved.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Bicycle, Getting, Program, Biking

Unlike traditional nursing homes, Green House homes provide elders with a high quality of life and quality of care in a setting that feels like a real home. By altering the facility size, interior design, staffing patterns and service-delivery method, the Green House model provides residents better, safer and more personalized care.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Nursing, Feels, Safer, Personalized

What happened to the tradition of walking to school? The simple answer is change. Change in traffic patterns and street planning that have made school routes less pedestrian-friendly.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Change, Patterns, Made, Routes

I always knew I wanted to be a doctor, but I also knew that being a doctor meant more than treating just the patient in front of you.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

More, Always, Meant, Treating

Once I started working with older people, I realized how much I enjoyed the intellectual challenge of taking care of patients who have multiple, complex medical problems.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Medical, Patients, Multiple, Older People

Higher costs naturally translate into fewer employers offering insurance coverage, and fewer employees accepting it, even when it is offered.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Insurance, Costs, Coverage, Accepting

Traditional nursing facilities are sterile institutions rather than homes - which is why many Americans do not want to live in one or want this as their only option for themselves or their family members.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Want, Rather, Which, Sterile

Understand the ways in which your hard work is going to be necessary to achieve the goals that you want.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Going, Necessary, Which, Goals

The causes of obesity are varied and complex, but the lack of daily physical activity is an important factor.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Important, Activity, Causes, Factor

American healthcare faces a crisis in quality. There is a dangerous divide between the potential for the high level of quality care that our health system promises and the uneven quality that it actually delivers.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Crisis, Level, High Level, Promises

Increasingly we know that we're going to have multiple medical conditions, and the person who's got the greatest incentive to manage those conditions is the patient him or herself.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Medical, Going, Increasingly, Manage

I had an interest in health policy and a realization that, as an academic physician, one of the things you're always looking to do is to have your clinical interests and your scholarly interests overlap and reinforce one another.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Always, One Of The Things, Overlap

Electronic medical records are, in a lot of ways, I think the aspect of technology that is going to revolutionize the way we deliver care. And it's not just that we will be able to collect information, it's that everyone involved in the healthcare enterprise will be able to use that information more effectively.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Medical, Records, I Think, Electronic

The things that are going to actually help you or me stay healthy are not necessarily the things that happen inside a doctor's office. They're the things that allow us to choose healthy lifestyles on a day-by-day basis.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Happen, Going, Allow, Lifestyles

My mother was a pediatrician, and she kept busy hours. I learned from her you could pack a lot into the day. Every minute had to count, and multitasking was a given.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Hours, Given, Learned, Pediatrician

Progress among the youngest children is especially important because we know that preventing obesity at an early age helps young people maintain a healthy weight into adulthood.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Young, Maintain, Preventing, Obesity

It isn't unusual to see children climb into a car every morning to be ferried to the front door of a school that's just a few blocks away.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Door, Away, Blocks, Unusual

I tell every young woman who asks me, be very careful about your choice of spouse. If you don't have a supportive spouse, it will be difficult to take on so many things.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Woman, Supportive, Very, Young Woman

This is our bottom line: The ways we give should and will evolve to enable us to achieve greater impact to improve the health and health care of all Americans.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Give, Will, All Americans, Enable

The people that you work with, the organizations that are committed to the same objectives. If they know that you're in it together, and you're working towards the same objectives, and you agree on how to do more with less, you can actually have a greater impact.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Work, More, Committed, Organizations

I think one key part of doing more with less is to be more strategic, to realize what the objectives you're truly trying to accomplish are and then to drive with greater focus towards those objectives.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Doing, Think, I Think, Objectives

What is Medicaid all about? It's staying true to the mission: to care for people historically left behind.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Mission, Behind, Left, Historically

I start my day by trying to be healthy and exercising and thinking about and reading about the challenges. I live the mission that way.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Challenges, Start, About, Exercising

I wanted to go from seeing the individual patient to seeing the plural - the whole population as a market. You want to see the larger population, yet at the same time you need to understand the impact of decisions on individuals.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Need, Individual, Larger, Population

I've been described as impatient.

- Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Been, Impatient

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