A major feature online this week and in print this past Sunday in the New York Times highlights the work of the Democracy Collaborative to enlist healthcare anchor institutions—and their considerable institutional resources—as key drivers of community wealth building.
The article, by global business correspondent Peter S. Goodman, traces the genesis of our model for anchor institution engagement with the democratic economy from its origins in Cleveland with the Evergreen Cooperatives. It follows this thread through the creation of the Healthcare Anchor Network, which brings together 45 leading hospitals and health systems in an increasingly impactful collaboration to align the nonprofit healthcare sector as a whole with what we have called the “anchor mission.”
Transformative efforts by Healthcare Anchor Network members Kaiser Permanente and CommonSpirit Health—like the creation of pathways to family-sustaining careers for the formerly incarcerated or investments designed to shield low-income communities of color from the pressures of displacement—are detailed in the piece, lifting up inspiring stories of the impact health systems can have as catalysts for inclusive community economic development on the lives of real people in the communities they serve.