Joe Louis Barrow Jr., the new chair of the Baptist Health system board of directors, said April 29 it is a place where he can serve both the hospital network and the community.
Barrow joined the board in 2005 and was named chair March 21.
The 74-year-old has a history with the area’s community and philanthropy
In 2000, the former president and CEO of the IZZO Golf company became chief executive of the First Tee, whose mission is to introduce children to the game of golf to teach life skills such as inner strength, self-confidence and resilience.
Barrow operated the charitable organization, based in Ponte Vedra Beach, that has grown to almost 150 chapters in every state as well as in Australia, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Morocco.
First Tee says it began in 1997 as a partnership among the LPGA, the Masters Tournament, the PGA of America, the PGA Tour and the USGA.
The program has served more than 15 million young people.
Barrow said he is drawn to Baptist Health because of its mission statement: “A lifetime of health together.”
He said in his role as board chair he wants to expand the hospital’s community outreach beyond its medical facilities.
“It is not just what we do within these walls but what we can do outside of the walls.”
Baptist Health, which has five area hospitals and 200 other physician offices and emergency rooms, is a community-based, locally governed, not-for-profit health care organization.
“It is very important that we understand the notion that it does take a village. It takes everybody coming together to meet the needs of the community,” he said.
During his two-year term as chair, he wants the hospital to continue its outreach to serve those with behavioral and mental issues. The isolation caused by the coronavirus pandemic left many children with issues that need treatment, he said.
“Mental health awareness has gone up greatly. We need to convert that awareness into action in the entire community,” he said.
One way is to support and publicize a new community suicide prevention and mental health lifeline that starts in July. Rather than remembering a multidigit telephone number, callers can use 988.
The cost of staffing the lines with health experts initially will be $7 million. It will be supported by government and private sector funding, he said.
Baptist Health is part of a task force that includes 911 operators, law enforcement and mental health providers to publicize the service and gain additional state funding for it.
Barrow wants to promote physical and mental health by encouraging Jacksonville to walk when possible rather than drive. He often strolls his Ortega neighborhood to exercise his body and his mind.
“From an education side, we think when we walk. We can think about things other than our work and our home. We can think about the world in general,” he said.
“I listen to the birds and think. I let my mind wander. More people need to let their minds wander and think about the consequences of the things that they do.”
Barrow said his motivation to give back to the community and his respect for education comes from his father, former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis Barrow, known professionally as Joe Louis.
“The black community loved Joe Louis but it wasn’t about being heavyweight champion. It was about him helping the people who came up behind him,” he said.
He said his father’s proudest moment was not meeting President Franklin Roosevelt or even winning the heavyweight championship.
It was seeing Barrow’s sister graduate from Howard University. She was the first in their family to earn a college degree.
Part of that was made possible by his father paying her tuition.
That interest in education continues for Barrow, who is chair of KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program), a network of charter schools that provides educational opportunities to lower-income students.
Barrow retired from First Tee at the end of 2017, believing it was time for new leadership.
“I had taken the First Tee through four business cycles. I’m a great believer in the changing of the guard. We need to have new people to look at the challenges as we move forward,” Barrow said.
“A good leader recognizes when the time is right to look at other things and what the next chapter holds,” he said.
“Some might say I have failed in my retirement from the First Tee because I am busier now with Baptist Health and KIPP.”
