City of San Antonio Receives Gold Medal from CityHealth

Published on December 06, 2023

Recognition was given for implementing policies that impact residents’ health and quality of life

SAN ANTONIO (December 5, 2023) – The City of San Antonio was recognized with an overall gold medal by CityHealth, an initiative of de Beaumont Foundation and Kaiser Permanente, for passing policies that improve the health and wellbeing of its residents by addressing health disparities across the most marginalized communities. This year, San Antonio is one of seven cities across the nation and the only city in the State of Texas receiving this recognition. Other cities receiving an overall gold medal include Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Portland, and St. Louis.

CityHealth annually awards the nation’s largest cities with gold, silver, bronze, or no medal across different policy areas that improve quality of life, address health disparities, and inspire healthy choices among communities. Seven cities qualified for an overall gold recognition by earning at least five gold medals across 12 individual policy areas identified by CityHealth. 

“Health policy is not stagnant,” says San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “Community health requires a comprehensive approach and CityHealth continues to push the envelope to ensure that we’re helping communities thrive in healthy and safe spaces. We are truly honored to receive this recognition.”

In 2023, San Antonio earned five gold medals and one bronze, including: 

• Affordable Housing Trusts – Gold
• Greenspace – Gold
• Healthy Food Purchasing – Gold
• High-quality, Accessible Pre-K – Gold
• Smoke Free Indoor Air – Gold
• Eco-friendly Purchasing – Bronze

More information regarding the 12 policies that were measured can be found in CityHealth’s website. 

“I’m extremely proud of Metro Health and the entire City organization. This national recognition is a validation of our ongoing commitment to making San Antonio a healthier place to live,” says City Manager Erik Walsh. “We remain steadfast in shaping effective policies that will address health disparities across the entire city, especially in the most vulnerable areas. I commend Metro Health’s efforts to continuously improve.”

The City of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District’s Director, Dr. Claude A. Jacob, states, “We are grateful for CityHealth’s national recognition of our efforts on the ground.  We look forward to using this evaluation as a guide to maintain the progress made with implementing policies that improve the health and wellbeing for all across the City of San Antonio. This recognition also celebrates our Metro Health team’s continuous resilience and commitment to serve our community as we address ongoing disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.”  

In previous years, San Antonio received both gold and bronze overall medals by CityHealth. This year, Metro Health’s Community Nutrition team with the support of the City of San Antonio’s Finance Department met with CityHealth to review results from the 2022 assessment and identified areas of improvement. These efforts have led to policy changes recognized in the overall gold medal designation.

In its latest report, CityHealth rated 46 of America’s largest cities. The full report can be found in CityHealth’s website.