Employee Ownership News archive

US News & World Report Webinar Achieving Health Equity: Tackling the Medical Community’s Greatest Care Challenge
HAN President David Zuckerman will be discussing healthcare’s unique role as an anchor in achieving health equity at the US News & World Report Webinar Achieving Health Equity: Tackling the Medical Community’s Greatest Care Challenge on Jun 23, 2022, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET. watch the webinar now

Brooklyn Communities Collaborative released Building Health, Wealth, and Equity in Brooklyn
Brooklyn Communities Collaborative, which HAN member Maimonides Medical Center is a member of, released Building Health, Wealth, and Equity in Brooklyn, which analyzed hospital procurement data to advance efforts to localize and diversify hospital spending. Read the report now

Build Healthy Places Network just released A Playbook for New Rural Healthcare Partnership Models of Investments
The Playbook is an action-oriented guide designed for healthcare organizations who want to pursue partnerships with local community and economic development and other sectors in rural areas with case studies on HAN members Dartmouth Health, ProMedica, and Saint Alphonsus Health (Trinity Health). Read the playbook now

Addressing housing shortage through investing
HAN member Dartmouth Health is joining 7 other local and mission-driven employers to invest in the new Upper Valley Loan Fund to help finance the construction of 260 mostly below-market rate apartment units in northern New England. The $10 million fund will help address the chronic shortage of affordable housing in the rural region which especially impact…

Supply Chain Top 25 now evaluates using HAN & impact purchasing goals
Gartner’s Healthcare Supply Chain Top 25 is adding an environmental, social and governance (ESG) quantitative metric to its ranking for the first time. The new ESG metric will be based upon Healthcare Anchor Network membership, participation, and active engagement. The metric will be weighted at 5% of the valuation for each health system. From the Gartner…

Transforming business ownership to build community wealth
HAN member Kaiser Permanente is partnering with Project Equity and Obran Cooperative to educate Kaiser’s supply chain vendors about, and support their transitioning to, an employee ownership model. Hawaii-based Courier Corporation, a transportation and delivery company with 153 employees, is the first company making the switch. This project represents an important innovation in how health systems can leverage their influence through their…

Partnering with suppliers to create family-supporting jobs
HAN member Intermountain Healthcare and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a leading global medical technology company, announced a collaboration on a new program to help create jobs in Salt Lake City that provide a living wage, retirement options, comprehensive health benefits, and career development. This collaboration between Intermountain and BD stems from HAN’s Impact Purchasing Commitment, as Intermountain…

HAN welcomes a new member to the Network!
HAN is very happy to have AtlantiCare join us! AtlantiCare is an integrated healthcare system based in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, whose more than 6,000 staff, providers and volunteers serve the community in more than 100 locations in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May and Ocean counties of southern New Jersey.

Policy advocacy on the structural determinants of health
HAN held a successful Policy Day on April 27th focusing on federal affordable housing programs: low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), HOME program, and housing vouchers, as well as workforce development programs: Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) and JOBS Act. We were thrilled to have 51 HAN health systems participate in the briefing, which represents 800 hospitals…

Health anchors ending chronic homelessness
HAN members CommonSpirit Health, Kaiser Permanente, Providence, Trinity Health, and UC Davis Health along with Sutter Health are participating in a three-year pilot to test how best to address the health risks that are connected to homelessness. The article details Kaiser Permanente’s and CommonSpirit Health’s strategies in this area. From the article: Two of the founding members of the network, Kaiser…

Impact investing: forward thinking that impacts the bottom line
HAN member UMass Memorial Health’s (UMMH) forward-thinking utilization of impact investing is spotlighted in an article focusing on how health systems are having to address upstream determinants of health because of the direct impact on hospital financial performance. UMMHC has pledged 1% ($4 million) of its unrestricted cash portfolio towards impact investing, as a signatory of the HAN Place-based Investing…

Leaning in on the anchor role to proactively address disparities
HAN member Intermountain Healthcare’s Nick Fritz, impact investing director, co-authored a commentary pointing out that all anchor institutions have a role to play in addressing the economic disparities that cause a wide range of hardships for lower-income families. The health system and Zions Bank are working on statewide initiatives to address inequality and expand opportunity including the creation…

Investing in economic security and health
HAN member Kaiser Permanente’s Bechara Choucair, M.D. senior vice president and chief health officer, highlights that many individuals are suffering economic insecurity from the impacts of the pandemic, inflation, and long-standing income and wealth inequities. Dr. Choucair stresses that financial insecurity is the next great health crisis and that health systems that adopt the anchor mission are taking action…
CHOP achieves key milestone of 100 homes cleared of asthma triggers
In 2019, HAN member Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) launched the Healthier Together Initiative, a $25 million, five year commitment to address the SDOH in the neighborhoods surrounding the hospital. The initiative’s housing focus is spearheaded by CHOP’s Community Asthma Prevention Program Plus (CAPP+), which works to eliminate sources of asthma triggers in homes with patients suffering from…

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Healthier Together Initiative
In 2019, HAN member Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) launched the Healthier Together Initiative, a $25 million, five year commitment to address the SDOH in the neighborhoods surrounding the hospital. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) leverages their Healthier Together Initiative to increase procurement dollars with local, diverse vendors and support vendors in registering as MWBEs in Pennsylvania,…
Comprehensive Approach To Where People Live and Learn
https://youtu.be/4edxTPhvrKA HAN member BJC Healthcare’s Dr. Jason Purnell discusses how where we live, learn, work, and play factor into our health. There’s an 18 year gap in life expectancy between two zip codes in St. Louis that are separated by just 10 miles. Dr. Purnell discusses BJC’s partnership with Beyond Housing, a local community development organization dedicated…

Land & Home Ownership Build Community Wealth
Build Healthy Places highlighted the investments of HAN members Bon Secours Mercy Health and Trinity Health (Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center) to support community land trusts (CLTs). The article also cites HAN member UCLA Health’s Geoff Gusoff sharing that land trusts have their roots in the Civil Rights movement, with the first land trust created to help rural Black farmers secure…

Health Anchors Bringing Small, Local & MWBE Businesses to the Table
HAN members Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Einstein Healthcare Network support and partner with Philadelphia Anchors for Growth and Equity (PAGE), which aims to increase local anchor purchasing to make the economy more inclusive. From the article: Craig Williams, president and CEO of Pride Enterprises general contractor, said his firm was hired as a construction manager by CHOP, with goals to…

Supporting Entrepreneurs and Youth Culinary Training
HAN member Ascension Wisconsin is donating $500,000 to PRISM Economic Development Corporation (EDC) to continue the health system’s support of the UpStart Kitchen entrepreneurs to access an affordable, fully equipped commercial kitchen and business resources to grow or start their own food business. The funds will also support the development of a youth culinary training program and COVID-19…

NewYork-Presbyterian
Based in New York City, New York-Presbyterian has more than 6,500 affiliated physicians, 20,000 employees, and some 2,600 beds. NewYork-Presbyterian sees more than 2 million visits annually.

Healthcare Anchor Network Staff Form Union and Ratify First Contract with Management
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Kaitlin Bell, NPEU, kbell@npeu.org, 806-752-0529; Bich Ha Pham, Senior Director of Communications & Policy, Healthcare Anchor Network, (202) 979-1077 press@anchornetwork.org WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2022 – The staff union at the Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) has ratified their first union contract with HAN management. HAN staff joined the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union…

Healthcare Anchor Network announces it has become an independent nonprofit organization
Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) is thrilled to announce that it has become an independent 501(c)3 organization. Our network includes 65+ members with over 1000 hospitals that employ more than 2 million people, purchase over $75B annually, and have over $150B in invested assets.

UCLA Health
UCLA Health serves the Greater Los Angeles area through its four hospitals and over 200 clinics across Southern California and employs 32,000 people.

Key Impact Purchasing Resources
Resource table of contents: Inclusive and Diverse Purchasing ResourcesInclusive, Local Economic Development ResourcesOther Key Impact Purchasing Resources 1. Inclusive and Diverse Purchasing Resources AMERICAN INDEPENDENT BUSINESS ALLIANCE (AMIBA) The American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) is dedicated to helping communities become more self-supporting and resilient through fostering a culture that values and supports independent business and local entrepreneurs….

UNC Health
HAN welcomes UNC Health, a not-for-profit integrated health care system owned by the state of North Carolina and based in Chapel Hill. UNC Health currently comprises UNC Hospitals and its provider network, the clinical programs of the UNC School of Medicine, and fourteen hospitals and eighteen hospital campuses statewide.

Adventist Health
Adventist Health is a faith-based, nonprofit integrated health system with 37,000 associates serving more than 80 communities on the West Coast and Hawaii as well as others across the U.S. through its Blue Zones company, a pioneer in taking a systemic and environmental approach to improving the health of entire cities and communities.

Investing in Housing with Rent Subsidies
Medical Home Network Accountable Care Organization (MHN ACO), which HAN member Rush University System for Health is a member of, is investing in a 3-year “housing first” pilot program to care for patients without stable housing who are at high risk for poor health outcomes. The program underwrites rent subsidies to help these individuals obtain apartments and…
HAN Leaders on Redirecting Resources for Inclusive, Local Economic Development
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L44qUKfyUso The American Hospital Association (AHA) organized a series of videos with health system leaders discussing their community investment programs and why these are important strategies for improving individual and community well-being and advancing health equity. HAN’s Executive Director David Zuckerman discussed health anchor social impact investing. Many HAN member system leaders provided insights including: How Executive…

Providing Employment Opportunities & Supports
HAN member Advocate Aurora Health developed a pilot program to provide individuals returning from the criminal justice system who reside in the communities it serves with equal access to employment opportunities. The health system hired 22 individuals in the past year and provided individualized support to help them adapt to the workplace and remain in their jobs. …

Trinity Health’s Place-based Investment Overview
Community Investment Program overview

Providence’s Place-based Investment Tools and Templates
Standard form documents templates (the contract created between the lender and borrower)Form of Line of Credit AgreementForm of Loan AgreementForm of Promissory Note (used with Loan Agreement)Form of Deed of TrustForm of Guaranty AgreementForm of Environmental Indemnity AgreementCommunity Investment Brochure: Document that provides information to interested borrowersCommunity Investment Fund Pre-qualification ScanCommunity Building Initiative PowerPoint slides overviewCommunity Building Initiative FY2016 Request for Proposals Planning Grant: RFPCommunity…

CommonSpirit Health’s Place-based Investment Tools and Templates
Loan Application: The applications that an interested party would complete requesting a direct loan. Example applications for housing providers and businesses and intermediaries.Financial Monitoring Templates: Analyses tools or “metrics” to evaluate a potential borrower’s current financial condition and future repayment projections based on cash flow. Examples for cash flow projection and financial summaries.Credit Memo Template: Internal document for preparing the narrative rationale…

Key Place-based Investment Resources
In Pursuit of Deeper Impact: Mobilizing Capital for Social Equity Authored by Katherine Pease and Sarah Thomas, this paper argues that conventional impact investment strategies do not have systemic impact, because they fail to incorporate an analysis of the root causes of inequality and still tend to prioritize the needs of investors over the needs…

Anchor Mission Adoption: Increasing Investments
New HAN member Memorial Hermann Health System, one of the largest employers and the largest healthcare provider in Greater Houston, announced a multi-million dollar place-based investment strategy focusing on housing instability, food insecurity, transportation, access to health care, income, and employment in neighborhoods in Southwest Houston and Greater Heights. From Newswise: “Each year, Memorial Hermann invests millions back into…

HAN Fall Convening an Opportunity to Learn From Peers
HAN’s fall convening was held in October and we discussed opportunities for anchors to partner with cities and states to form meaningful solutions to meet the needs of the Americans experiencing economic insecurity daily within the context of the evolution of the racial equity frame as a guiding principle. We also heard from HAN member CFOs…

The Meaning of Anchor Mission
HAN member UMass Memorial Health’s Douglas Brown shares how the health system is leveraging economic power to address economic and racial inequities to improve community health, which included anchor mission goals being incorporated in its affiliation agreement with Harrington Hospital. From the article: The answer lies in the different conditions of life in these two neighborhoods. In one, a quarter…

Going Solar to Improve the Environment & Health
HAN member Intermountain Healthcare announced a major step it is taking towards sustainability by joining a utility-scale solar project that will supply 20 percent of the health system’s total electricity needs for the next 20 years. Intermountain Healthcare includes sustainability as a fourth pillar of its anchor mission strategy. The health system was an early signatory to HAN’s Impact Purchasing…

Allegheny Health Network
HAN is excited to have Allegheny Health Network join us. The health system serves 29 Pennsylvania counties and portions of New York, Ohio, and West Virginia. AHN has 14 hospitals and approximately 19,000 employees and 2,000 volunteers.

Nemours Children’s Health
HAN is happy to have another distinguished children’s hospital member. Nemours Children’s Health is one of the largest integrated pediatric health systems in the country with 95 locations in 4 states. The health system has 8,000 Nemours associates and cares for nearly half a million children annually.

Supporting Workers with a $15 Minimum Wage Raise
HAN member Intermountain Healthcare, Utah’s largest private sector employer, is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour, positively impacting 2,200 employees. Utah, where the health system is headquartered, has a current minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. The health system is also adjusting the pay for 12,800 employees in more than 250 jobs roles, with most…

Financial Wellness for Employees and Community Members
HAN member Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System’s (FMOLHS) Our Lady of the Lake (OLOL) Regional Medical Center, along with Catholic Charities Diocese of Baton Rouge and MetroMorphosis, created The Faith Fund, a community-owned, financial institution micro-loan investment fund. FMOLHS saw that some of its staff were struggling financially and some became caught in a long-term cycle of debt…

Memorial Hermann Health System
HAN is excited to have Memorial Hermann Health System join the network. The institution is one of the largest not-for-profit health systems in Southeast Texas with 17 hospitals and 29,000 employees. Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center in Houston was named a top 10 hospital for serving minority and low-income communities in the Lown Institute Hospital Index.

El Camino Health
A new member to HAN is El Camino Health in California, which has two not-for-profit acute care hospitals in Los Gatos and Mountain View, and urgent care, multi-specialty care, and primary care locations across Santa Clara County.

Anchor Mission Leaders
HAN Executive Director, David Zuckerman, and many HAN member executives were recognized by Modern Healthcare as healthcare sector leaders who have embraced partnerships. The outlet called out that such efforts require leadership and collaboration created in service to the patient. Read the Modern Healthcare Story Now

Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
HAN is fortunate to have an additional esteemed Ohio health institution join us. Welcome to Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, one of the nation’s leading academic health centers with more than 23,000 team members. The medical center is home to more than 20 research centers and institutes.

Anchor Collaboratives: Building bridges with place-based partnerships and anchor institutions
Healthcare Anchor Network’s director of communication and policy Bich Ha Pham co-authored the report Anchor Collaboratives: Building Bridges with Place-Based Partnerships and Anchor Institutions, which discusses the role of anchor institutions and collaboratives in leveraging the power of their economic assets to address social and economic disparities and to revitalize local communities. The report focuses on the work…

Nuvance Health
HAN is excited to have Nuvance Health join our network. Nuvance Health has hospitals, medical practices, and care centers located throughout New York’s Hudson Valley and Western Connecticut.

Aspen Workforce Strategies Initiative
The Aspen Workforce Strategies Initiative identifies, evaluates, and promotes promising and successful practices and policies that help workers attain stability and mobility, including through training, education, and broader systems change.

Career Pathway Mapping Tools
This toolkit of career pathway resources sheds light on the vast variety of career opportunities in healthcare, and can help health systems enable employees to find those careers and embark on their career journeys.

The National Fund for Workforce Solutions & CareerSTAT
The National Fund for Workforce Solutions supports expanding investments in inclusive, local hiring and frontline workforce development to meet critical workforce needs. CareerSTAT is the National Fund’s healthcare initiative.

National Skills Coalition
The National Skills Coalition (NSC) is the leading national workforce development advocacy organization. NSC’s issue brief “Skills for an Inclusive Healthcare Economy” outlines health sector priorities in workforce development.

Building the anchor mission movement
HAN Executive Director, David Zuckerman, presented testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Rules Committee for its Roundtable on Ending Hunger in America: Local Innovations to Inform a National Strategy. He shared how the anchor mission framework can help to address hunger by addressing its root causes through good jobs with training and career ladders, supporting local and minority, women,…

Investing in affordable housing to improve health
HAN member Kaiser Permanente’s impact investments in affordable housing continues with project in New Mexico and California. In California, Kaiser Permanente has committed $50 million to the SDS Supportive Housing Fund, an innovative real estate impact fund that is seeking to build up to 1,800 financially sustainable permanent supportive housing (PSH) units for people experiencing homelessness in…

Health anchors supporting businesses in tough times
HAN members Bon Secours Mercy Health, CommonSpirit Health, and Providence St. Joseph Health are spotlighted by Catholic Health World for adopting the HAN Impact Purchasing Commitment (IPC). Pictured is Homeboy Industries, which CommonSpirit Health’s California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles contracted with for electronics recycling. From the article: Those that have signed on to the Impact Purchasing Commitment have agreed…

Investing in Affordable Housing to Improve Health
HAN member Intermountain Healthcare announced a new partnership with Rocky Mountain Homes Fund to provide affordable, stable housing options in Weber County in Utah. The new project addresses the SDOH in underserved communities by removing barriers to affordable home ownership such as the lack of down payments and higher mortgage interest rates for those without good credit….

New Milwaukee Anchor Collaborative Commits to Local Inclusive Hiring & Procurement
HAN members Advocate Aurora Health, Ascension Wisconsin, and Froedtert Health and our Anchor Learning Network members the Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University, along with Children’s Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, recently launched the Milwaukee Anchor Collaborative. The Eds & Meds anchors pledged to increase their hiring and spending in eight of the city’s disadvantaged neighborhoods. JobsWork MKE will serve as the “boots…

Health Systems Addressing Hunger
HAN member University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) announced a $1.2 million commitment to address food insecurity issues across Maryland, working with the Maryland Food Bank, the Capital Area Food Bank, Moveable Feast, and Meals on Wheels to provide directed grants and other resources. In addition, the more than 29,000 UMMS team members will have opportunities to…

Vidant Health
HAN is excited to have Vidant Health join our network! Vidant Health serves more than 1.4 million people in 29 Eastern North Carolina counties. The health system includes 1,708 beds across nine hospitals and more than 13,000 employees. Vidant Health has an economic impact of $3.5 billion to North Carolina’s gross state product.

SolutionHealth
A new member to HAN is SolutionHealth, a new health system comprised of Elliot Health System and Southern New Hampshire Health. SolutionHealth has 6,500 staff and a 500,000+ service area population. The health system makes a direct economic contribution of $550 million to the economy.

Health anchors are vital place-based investors
Healthcare anchors have a unique role to play as investors in their communities to improve community health and well-being, particularly for those impacted by a legacy of divestment and discrimination. Many HAN member health systems have committed to redirecting a portion of their investable assets toward impact investments that are place-based and address community conditions that…

Kaiser Permanente Thriving Communities Fund
Kaiser Permanente’s Thriving Communities Fund is explored in a new case study. The case study covers the program’s inception and design, strategies employed, partnerships, key stakeholders involved. It also explores several of the program’s projects, including the Housing for Health Fund and the SDS Supportive Housing Fund. Read the case study here.

CommonSpirit Health Community Investment Program
CommonSpirit Health’s Community Investment Program is explored in a new case study. The case study covers the program’s inception and design, strategies employed, and key stakeholders involved. It also discusses several of the program’s projects, including Stocktonians Taking Action to Neutralize Drugs (STAND), the Hill Country Community Clinic, and California FarmLink. Read the case study…

Rush University System for Health Impact Investing Fund
Rush University System for Health’s (RUSH) Impact Investing Fund (“the Fund”) is explored in a new case study. The case study covers the Fund’s inception and design, strategies employed, and key stakeholders involved. In addition, it examines Rush’s partnerships with other local anchor institutions through West Side United (WSU) on place-based investing projects. Finally, it…

Intermountain Healthcare Local Impact Investing
Intermountain Healthcare’s local impact investing work is explored in a new case study. The case study covers the program’s inception and design, strategies employed, and key stakeholders involved. It also explores one of the program’s early initiatives, the Utah Housing Preservation Fund. Read the case study here.

UMass Memorial Health Care Community Investing Program
UMass Memorial Health (UMMH)’s Community Investing Program is explored in a new case study. The case study covers the program’s inception and design, strategies employed, and key stakeholders involved. It also discusses several of the program’s projects, including Worcester Common Ground (WCG), Creative Hub Worcester (CHW), the Finally Home Fund, and the Tiny Home Village. …

Connecticut Hospital Association
HAN is thrilled to announced the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) as our first affiliate member. As a state hospital association, it represents more than 90 member hospitals and health-related organizations throughout the state. HAN and CHA are piloting this collaboration and assessing the mutual benefits to both groups.

Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System
Welcome Spartanburg Regional Health System to HAN! The health system is one of South Carolina’s largest healthcare systems and is celebrating its centennial. Spartanburg employs over 9,000 individuals and also services North Carolina.

Baptist Health
HAN is excited to have Baptist Health join our network! Baptist Health was founded in 1955 and is the North Florida area’s only locally owned and governed healthcare provider uniquely enabling it to anticipate and respond to the changing needs of the community.

Increasing digital equity for patients and the community
HAN member The MetroHealth System’s proposed pilot project was selected by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to participate in the FCC’s Connected Care Pilot Program. This pilot will support the System’s Digital Connectivity Initiative, which will provide $901,000 over three years to subsidize internet connection for Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) residents. From the press release: The Institute for H.O.P.E.™ has screened…

Cleveland Clinic, Kaiser, Intermountain among those committing to supplier diversity
Cleveland Clinic, Intermountain Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente, and Providence are among 12 systems in the country to sign a commitment to expand supplier diversity. The Impact Purchasing Commitment — designed by the Healthcare Anchor Network in partnership with Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth — includes increasing spending with minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs),…

Health systems commit to diversifying supply chains
A dozen health systems are pledging to diversify their vendor partnerships, including collectively funneling at least $1 billion over the next five years to minority and women-owned businesses. Each organization signing the “impact purchasing commitment” also agreed to work with two of their existing large vendors to hire workers from disinvested communities they serve. Signatories of…

12 health systems pledge $1B investment in small businesses
Twelve health systems signed a joint $1 billion commitment to boost spending collectively on local, minority, women-owned and other small businesses and enterprises, most of which have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a June 9 news release. The organizations signed the “Impact Purchasing Commitment,” designed by the Healthcare Anchor Network, in partnership with…

Impact Purchasing Commitment (IPC)
Twelve HAN member health systems across the country signed the “Impact Purchasing Commitment” (IPC) to build healthy, equitable, and climate-resilient local economies through what and how they spend their dollars. The IPC commitment, designed by the Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN), in partnership with Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth, includes increasing spending with Minority…

Health Systems Announce Commitment to Increase MWBE Spending by $1B to Improve Supplier Diversity & Build Community Wealth
Twelve HAN member health systems across the country signed the “Impact Purchasing Commitment” (IPC) to build healthy, equitable, and climate-resilient local economies through what and how they spend their dollars. The IPC commitment, designed by the Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN), in partnership with Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth, includes increasing spending with Minority…

How the health sector can lead on climate, health, and equity
A new initiative that launched in June, the Impact Purchasing Commitment (IPC), could be a vehicle to kickstart collating this demand. Developed through a partnership between Health Care Without Harm and the Healthcare Anchor Network, the IPC defines purchasing goals for the sector that will direct their spending while creating a coordinated, data-driven movement towards healthy, equitable,…

Local Coverage of the IPC Announcement
Many of the 12 initial signatories of the Impact Purchasing Commitment received local news coverage of these systems’ commitment to aligning their purchasing power with clinical and community efforts to improve societal health and well-being and to catalyze prosperity for all, particularly those impacted by a legacy of divestment and discrimination. “After surpassing 2020 target,…

Connecting health equity and the anchor mission
Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) member Rush University Medical Center’s adoption of an organizational anchor mission and equity strategy to address the social and structural determinants of health is detailed in the NEJM article and covers Rush’s launch of a health care equity strategy; the creation of the Rush health equity framework, including the creation of West Side United…

Inova Health System
HAN is happy to have Inova Health System join the network! Inova is one of Northern Virginia’s leading nonprofit healthcare providers with 18,000 team members who serve more than 2 million individuals annually.

HAN’s Policy Day leveraged health system voices for housing
On May 12th, HAN held its third Housing for Health Policy Day with the largest turn out yet for our annual event. We were joined by Sen. Todd Young, Rep. Jim McGovern and Rep. Dwight Evans, with a recorded message from Sen. Sherrod Brown. The Congressional members spoke about the importance of stable, affordable, and healthy housing, and…

MedStar Health
MedStar Health is based in Columbia, Maryland and serves communities in the Maryland and Washington, D.C. region. The health system has 10 hospitals, more than 30,000 associates, and over 4,700 affiliated physicians.

Anchor institutions focus on policy change for more impact
Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) members are investing in and supporting affordable housing. One example is Boston Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital providing $3 million over three years for housing stability in Boston through the Innovative Stable Housing Initiative (ISHI). In addition to funding and investing support, HAN members are also working to address upstream…

Health anchors uplifting the economic trajectory & workforce
Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) members ProMedica, RWJBarnabas Health, and UC Davis Health are supporting job training and local hiring for community residents. UC Davis Health will be entering into a Community Benefit Agreement to provide jobs, job training, affordable housing, better transportation options, and youth education as part of its $3.75 billion plan to rebuild and expand the UC Davis…

Anchors helping local small businesses get back on their feet
HAN’s blog article highlights that by practicing local and diverse procurement, the health sector can support business development that has equitable economic and social impacts. From the HAN article:When local and minority and women owned businesses are awarded procurement contracts by health institutions, they are able to employ local residents and provide stable wages. This local…

Anchors helping local small businesses get back on their feet
We see the devastating impact of COVID-19 on small neighborhood businesses throughout our towns and cities. Too many stores and restaurants have closed, leaving empty or boarded up voids on our main streets. Many that remain are struggling to get by and unsure of how they’ll be able to fully get back on their feet…

Community health and gun violence prevention
HAN member Northwell Health has initiated the Gun Violence Prevention Learning Collaborative for Health Systems and Hospitals to share and develop best practices for reducing gun violence. The interactive forum unites healthcare organizations looking to the combat public health crisis. HAN members CommonSpirit Health and Mass General Brigham along with more than 300 health system leaders have signed onto the collaborative. Read the…

United Kingdom launches health system anchor network
The Health Anchors Learning Network (HALN) is a UK-wide network taking the first step to create an action-oriented, inclusive, and informative network to adopt and apply anchor strategies in order to improve the SDOH and reduce inequalities. HALN will “help [National Health Services] NHS organisations to maximise their ‘anchor role’ in local economies to improve the wellbeing…

Community health & impact investing
HAN member Providence’s leaders and Well Being Trust’s Tyler Norris discuss seven Standards of Excellence in Community Health Investments for broad consideration by health care systems and partners. They stress that a focus on the “vital conditions for intergenerational well-being” must be at the core of health systems’ efforts to deliver measurable outcomes and include HAN and the anchor mission framework…

Health anchors back education, training, and employment
Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) members Baystate Health, Denver Health, and ProMedica are making news with their anchor mission focus of supporting education, training, and employment for lower-income individuals and those with barriers to employment. Denver Health is looking to improve the health and wellbeing of community members, not just with medical services, but with job opportunities. It has partnered with workforce development groups like Activate…

Hartford HealthCare
HAN welcomes Hartford HealthCare to the network! Hartford HealthCare (HHC) is one of Connecticut’s most comprehensive healthcare networks. With 33,000 employees and total operating revenue of $4.3 billion, HHC serves 185 towns and cities at more than 400 locations.

Health systems scale impact by supporting and launching anchor collaboratives
Going beyond their own commitment to anchor strategies, Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) members Advocate Aurora Health, Baystate Health, Intermountain Healthcare, Maimonides Medical Center, and Rush University System for Health are helping incubate, fund, and lead local anchor collaboratives to scale and deepen the impact of these strategies in their communities. Advocate Aurora Health provided $675,000 in grants to develop a diverse health…

WellSpan Health
Headquartered in York, PA, WellSpan Health is a not-for-profit integrated health system serving communities across south central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland with eight hospitals and over 200 patient care locations. The health system has around 20,000 employees and around 2,600 physicians and advanced practice providers.
Worker coop grows with the support and procurement business of health anchors
HAN members Cleveland Clinic and University Hospital, in partnership with the Cleveland Foundation, Case Western Reserve University, and the city of Cleveland launched Evergreen Cooperatives in 2007 as a place-based community wealth building strategy with the help of the Democracy Collaborative. Shelterforce’s article found that since then Evergreen Cooperative has added new co-ops, workers, and strategies. The Coop has…

Rush University Medical Center (RUMC)
The RUMC: Collaborating with community stakeholders case study shares how the anchor mission strategy provided an opportunity for RUMC to engage the community in new ways to ensure that its work was in line with the real world experiences of Chicago’s West Side residents. While RUMC had worked with community partners for decades, the idea of being more…

UC Davis Health
Based in Sacramento, UC Davis Health serves 33 counties in northern California as the region’s only academic medical center. The health system has over 11,000 employees.

Michigan Medicine
Michigan Medicine is the University of Michigan’s academic medical center. Based in Ann Arbor, it is one of the largest health care complexes in the state, with nearly 30,000 employees.

Ascension
Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Ascension is a non-profit and Catholic health system serving communities with more than 2,600 sites of care – including 145 hospitals and more than 40 senior living facilities – in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

HAN members creating food systems level change
Rochelle, an M Health Fairview patient in Minnesota, was struggling to manage all of her different medications. Her doctors saw that her condition could be improved with access to fresh foods, and so they referred her to the VeggieRx program. Through VeggieRx, Rochelle received fresh produce and was able to not only improve her own…

Froedtert Health
Based in Milwaukee, Froedtert Health’s network includes five hospitals, more than 1,700 physicians, and nearly 40 health centers and clinics in Wisconsin.

Health anchors join commitment to create a million jobs for Black Americans over 10 years
Healthcare Anchor Network members Cleveland Clinic and Intermountain Health joined 35 companies to announce the formation of OneTen, an organization that will work with these companies to train and hire one million Black Americans over the next 10 years into family-sustaining jobs with career ladders for advancement. OneTen will work with these major employers, along with non-profits…

Health anchors tackling systemic racism
HAN member Mass General Brigham created the “United Against Racism” initiative to better to tackle and overcome the barriers to equity that exist in the institution. The system-wide plan includes specific timelines and metrics of success in its journey to becoming an anti-racist organization and includes changes in leadership, culture, and patient care. It also…

Staying strong & committed to the anchor mission and communities during COVID-19
Hospitals and health systems have been put under immense pressure, treating COVID-19 patients during the surges and throughout the year, while also facing financial challenges due to the precipitous drop in surgeries and elective medical procedures. Despite this, Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) member systems have looked to maintain and sometimes even strengthen their anchor mission…

SSM Health
SSM Health is a Catholic, not-for-profit health system serving the comprehensive health needs of communities across the Midwest in Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. The health system has care delivery sites in 23 hospitals, 11,000 providers, and nearly 40,000 employees, and is one of the largest employers in every community it serves.

Maximizing housing for health through partnerships with community development finance
Healthcare Anchor Network members Anchorum St. Vincent and RWJBarnabas Health are leveraging their funds to maximize their impact on community health and support their communities. Anchorum St. Vincent and Enterprise Bank Trust have committed $10 million to a new Community Catalyst Fund for affordable housing. Affordable housing developers such as Homewise, a Community Development Financial…

Reimagining PPE production to build a resilient & sustainable supply chain & create good jobs
The Healthcare Anchor Network’s (HAN) Anchoring Resilience: Aligning Supply Chains and Impact Purchasing for Community Health summit catalyzed the conversation around how the healthcare sector could collaborate to more intentionally onshore and localize production of PPE and other important supplies with an emphasis on equity, sustainability, and supply chain resilience. The summit was supported by HAN member Kaiser…

Reimagining Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Supply Chains
The Healthcare Anchor Network’s (HAN) white paper Reimagining Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Supply Chains calls for national leadership and healthcare sector collaboration to create PPE production capacity for American sourced and manufactured supplies. The white paper was released at the HAN Anchoring Resilience: Aligning Supply Chains and Impact Purchasing for Community Health summit on November…

Health Systems Advancing Digital Equity
When coronavirus caused over 1.5 million people in Ohio to file for unemployment benefits, many did not have a computer or access to the internet in order to apply for benefits. “Several residents came to my house to have me walk them through getting unemployment because they didn’t have a computer, and they didn’t know…

Helping Team Members to Purchase Homes
HAN member UC San Francisco partners with Landed, which works with schools and health systems to help employees buy homes through a shared equity down payment program. From the article: “We are thrilled to begin serving UCSF employees and supporting a research university and medical center at the forefront of confronting the public health challenges we face as…

Taking a multifaceted approach to affordable housing advocacy
Healthcare Anchor Network member Saint Alphonsus Health System, a member of Trinity Health, met with Idaho and Oregon Congress members for the HAN Housing for Health Policy Day 2020 and were successful in gaining support for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), particularly by focusing on the program’s positive impact on overlooked rural communities. At…

Boston healthcare anchor-led initiative receives $5 million grant for inclusive local hiring & affordable housing
Healthcare Anchor Network members Boston Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital were awarded $5 million over three years from JPMorgan Chase’s “AdvancingCities” Challenge for the Boston Opportunity System Collaborative. The initiative aims to advance local inclusive hiring strategies, as well as build and preserve affordable housing.

Anchor institutions investing to address racial disparities
HAN member Providence St. Joseph Health announced a new commitment of $50 million over the next five years to reduce health disparities and achieve health equity, beginning with an immediate response to the impact of COVID-19, particularly for communities of color and those disproportionately affected by the pandemic. The health system published a recent study,…

It is undeniable: Racism is a public health crisis
39 health systems in 45 states and Washington, DC have committed to addressing racism and the public health disparities caused by racism. “As members and leaders of many healthcare organizations across the nation addressing the disproportionate Black and Brown mortality of the COVID-19 pandemic, we say without hesitation that Black Lives Matter.”

Impact investing for community centers and art spaces
Healthcare Anchor Network member UMass Memorial Health Care has announced a seven-year, $500,000 impact investment to Creative Hub Worcester, a proposed arts and events community center. The 40,000-square-foot facility can hold up to 300 people and will include two dance studios and performance space, more than a dozen small studios for artists, three classrooms, a…

Cone Health
Based in Greensboro, North Carolina, Cone Health serves people in the Alamance, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham and surrounding counties with more than 100 locations, including six hospitals.

Supporting minority-owned businesses in disinvested communities
In an article in Forbes, Healthcare Anchor Network member RWJBarnabas Health’s President and CEO Barry H. Ostrowsky and Michellene Davis, Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, write about four ways that large scale corporations can begin to promote an anchor institution approach. They point out that “COVID-19 has underscored the fact that band-aid…

Implementing anchor mission goals while battling the pandemic
Healthcare Anchor Network member Kaiser Permanente has committed $63 million to support contact tracing in California that will involve partnering with the Public Health Institute to hire and train 500 full-time residents from the hardest hit communities to be contract tracers. In addition to a quality job, the program will be positioning these individuals for…

Healthcare anchors investing in affordable housing to improve health and well-being
Healthcare Anchor Network member CommonSpirit Health, along with UnitedHealthcare and Aetna, has committed $35 million in financing to launch the Home Matters Arizona Fund for affordable housing projects. The project will invest $100 million in phase one to finance community development and affordable housing projects that proactively foster connected and healthier lives. From the Home…

Preserving affordable housing through anchor impact investing
Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) member Intermountain Healthcare, along with a group of private institutions including the Clark and Christine Ivory Foundation and Zions Bank, created the Utah Housing Preservation Fund with the goal of raising $100 million to preserve subsidized and “naturally occurring” affordable housing. This year, the Preservation Fund helped secure 24 duplexes that…

How Chicago hospitals are engaging in anti-violence work
HAN member Rush University Medical Center’s David Ansell, senior vice president for community health equity, spoke about the Chicago Hospital Engagement, Action and Leadership Initiative, or HEAL, that HAN members Advocate Christ Medical Center, AMITA Health’s Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center, and Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago are also members of. The HEAL action…

Community members supporting hospitals and each other
Across the country we have seen community members mobilize to volunteer, donate, and produce needed medical supplies and equipment for our hospitals throughout the pandemic. Healthcare Anchor Network members’ anchor mission strategies of community engagement, volunteerism, and local inclusive procurement positioned them to move swiftly. Some examples include HAN members Intermountain Healthcare and University of…

Anchor institution works with communities to strengthen community health and wealth
Healthcare Anchor Network member Maimonides Medical Center’s anchor mission approach is spotlighted in Building a Culture of Health in Central Brooklyn: From Protest to Health Systems Transformation, published by MIT CoLab. The case study tells the story of the partnership between the Coalition to Save and Transform Interfaith, Maimonides Hospital’s Community Care of Brooklyn, and…

University of Maryland Medical System
University of Maryland Medical System is a university-based regional health care system focused on serving the health care needs of Maryland residents. UMMS delivers approximately 25 percent of all hospital care in Maryland and serves a vital role in the state’s economy by employing 28,000 workers.

Report: Racial & Ethnic Economic Inequality and the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Democracy Collaborative prepared a report, created for the Healthcare Anchor Network, that looked at how racial and ethnic disparities in the economy are showing up in the COVID-19 pandemic and in the public policy response to the pandemic. The report also covers how the economic effects of the pandemic will likely impact racial and…

Webinar: Aligning Your Anchor Mission for Post-Pandemic Impact
The COVID-19 crisis and nationwide uprisings against police violence have magnified the connection between systemic racism, social and economic inequities and poor health outcomes. How can anchor institutions meet this moment to address the physical, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic and begin to repair the harm caused by systemic racism in communities? This…

Actions to fight racism and promote equity
HAN member Kaiser Permanente announced a $100 million investment toward addressing systemic racism and lack of economic opportunity that includes $60 million for an inclusive economic development partnership with LISC to help businesses and local economies in Kaiser markets recover from the pandemic and support longer term growth. $15 million in grants will be available to help these…

Healthcare anchors address racism as a public health crisis
Healthcare Anchor Network members Advocate Aurora Health, AMITA Health, Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and Rush University Medical Center were co-signers to a pivotal and ground-breaking joint statement published in Chicago newspapers declaring systemic racism a public health crisis. The signatory institutions are a part of the City of Chicago’s Racial Equity Rapid Response Team.

Nurses promote community transformation for well-being
This opinion piece co-authored by Weston Consulting CEO Marla J. Weston, PhD, RN, (formerly the CEO of the American Nurses Association Enterprise), Healthcare Anchor Network manager for communications and policy Bich Ha Pham, and HAN director David Zuckerman in the Nursing Administration Quarterly aims to further engage nurses as anchor mission leaders. The article describes…

Anchor institutions impacting national policy on racial and health equity
Dr. Thomas Dean Sequist, Chief Patient Experience and Equity Officer at Healthcare Anchor Network member Mass General Brigham, testified at the U.S. House of Representative’s hearing on the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color. He spoke about about the impact the pandemic has had in Chelsea, MA, as well as on the Navajo…

HAN collaborating with Modern Healthcare for the Social Determinants of Health Symposium
The Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) is a promotional sponsor of the Modern Healthcare virtual Social Determinants of Health Symposium on June 2, 2020 with HAN member Intermountain Health as the lead sponsor. With COVID-19, our nation has a glimpse into how deep health disparities run. The SDOH Symposium will cover actionable takeaways for addressing health…

Video: The Anchor Learning Network
The Democracy Collaborative and the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities co-coordinate the Anchor Learning Network, which is designed to facilitate a more rapid and effective advancement of the anchor mission within its member institutions, in their home communities, and across the higher education sector. In this video, members of the Anchor Learning Network share…

Some cities have re-localized industry in response to COVID19
COVID-19 has revealed that outsourcing medical equipment supply chains to other countries can lead to significant shortages. As a result, hospitals and health systems are looking to local vendors for PPEs and other needed supplies. For example, HAN member Trinity Health contracted with a local woman-owned and -led company, Detroit Sewn, to produce 50,000 masks…

HAN members addressing health disparities, social determinants of health & anchor mission goals during COVID-19
Long-standing racial and income disparities are being illuminated in this pandemic, with disparate impacts on people of color, immigrants, and those without access to healthcare. Nationally, Black Americans are dying of COVID-19 at a rate of more than twice their population share (black individuals represent 13% of the population in states releasing data, but 28%…

Kaiser Permanente pledges $1M to treat homeless for COVID-19
Healthcare Anchor Network member Kaiser Permanente is supporting National Health Care for the Homeless Council as a community intermediary to fund at least four housing activist groups in California, Seattle and Portland, Oregon, areas hard hit by COVID-19, having nearly half of all coronavirus cases in the nation. Kaiser Permanente’s $1 million will help prevent…

Anchor procurement to build community wealth by supporting local, minority, women, and worker-owned businesses
Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) members Advocate Health Care, AMITA Health, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and Rush University Medical Center, along with the City of Chicago, other anchor institutions and companies, are members of Chicago Anchors for a Strong Economy (CASE). CASE aims to generate inclusive economic growth through anchor procurement.

New worker-owned and health anchor-serving laundry facility breaks ground in Texas
The North Heights Linen Service is a 25,000-square-foot facility that will serve local and regional linen needs for hospitals, and will be a worker-owned cooperative business. The project funding is spearheaded by the Amarillo Area Foundation, as well as many local banks. The business is projecting to hire 40 nearby resident employees, eventually expanding to…

HAN members draw attention to the need for stable, affordable housing
On March 12, 2020, the Healthcare Anchor Network convened its members in Washington, D.C. for its second Housing for Health Policy Day, an event on Capitol Hill which saw Congressional staff, national healthcare associations, and housing advocacy groups attend a federal policy briefing about the impact of structural determinants of health and the universal need…

Anchor institutions working with diverse entrepreneurs to build wealth, improve food access, and create jobs
HAN members Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital, along with other Boston anchor institutions, are procuring local and unique products from diverse, locally owned food start-up businesses. CommonWealth Kitchen, a nonprofit kitchen in Dorchester, MA, is incubating more than 50 small, mostly minority-owned, and community-based food start-up businesses. It adopted a strategy to help…

Sentara Healthcare
HAN welcomes Sentara Healthcare to HAN! Based in Norfolk, Virginia, Sentara serves patients with 12 acute care hospitals with more than 300 sites of care across Virginia and North Carolina. For more than 125 years, Sentara has been committed to helping people through every stage of life.

Hospital investments to create affordable housing
A new collaboration was announced between Healthcare Anchor Network member RWJBarnabas Health, Pennrose, LLC, the City of Newark, and the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) under the agency’s Hospital Partnership Subsidy Program. The program views housing as key to maintaining good health and looks to the role of hospitals as anchor institutions…

OU Medicine
OU Medicine — along with its academic partner, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center — serves residents of Oklahoma and the region with a comprehensive academic health system of hospitals, a children’s hospital, clinics and centers.

Yale New Haven Health
Based in New Haven, Connecticut, Yale New Haven Health serves patients with five hospitals – Yale New Haven, Bridgeport, Greenwich, Lawrence + Memorial and Westerly – and is affiliated with Yale University and its Yale School of Medicine.

Anchor Mission Communications Toolkit
Hospitals and health systems and other anchor institutions from across the country are adopting an “anchor mission” to tackle the underlying economic and social determinants of community health outcomes and community well being. But how can both the what and the why of this new transformative approach be effectively communicated, inside and outside your institution?

Anchor Mission Communications Toolkit Resources
The Anchor Mission Communications Toolkit Resources is a list of resources and information referred to in the Anchor Mission Communications Toolkit, produced by the Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) in collaboration with Rush University Medical Center (Rush) with links to directly access these resources.

Kaiser Permanente pledges $25 million to California Access to Housing and Services Fund
Kaiser Permanente, a member of the Healthcare Anchor Network, is further responding to the California affordable housing crises by committing an additional $25 million to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Access to Housing and Services Fund. The health system has already pledged $200 million in impact investments to support community health, particularly on affordable housing. …

Henry Ford Health System Cardinal Health Distribution Center Case Study
Cardinal committed to moving its warehouse operations from a location outside of Detroit into the neighborhood adjacent to Henry Ford Hospital. Distribution Warehouse represents a $30 million investment. Four local entities joined to build the warehouse resulting in the fruition of this place-based anchor mission project: Henry Ford Health System, Detroit Medical Center, Cardinal Health…

Anchor Mission strategies of HAN health system leaders spotlighted in Modern Healthcare series
Modern Healthcare ran a series highlighting how Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) members have been stepping up efforts to reduce socio-economic, racial, and ethnic disparities in their communities and to build community wealth. The HAN members covered in the series include AMITA Health, Cleveland Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Rush University Medical Center,…

Advancing the Anchor Mission of Healthcare
In December 2016, leaders from 40 health systems gathered in Washington, DC to explore the potential to more fully harness their economic power to inclusively and sustainably benefit the long-term well-being of American communities. This report summarizes the events of the convening and presents the health systems’ collective vision of the Healthcare Anchor Network.

Healthy Communities Policy Framework
This document, created by the Aligning to Advance Policy Initiative Group of the Healthcare Anchor Network, outlines the foundational elements of a policy agenda to create equitable, engaged, connected and economically strong communities.

Accelerate Your Anchor Mission Strategy with the Healthcare Anchor Network
The Healthcare Anchor Network can facilitate a variety of processes designed to help your institution accelerate your Anchor Mission, ranging from half-day workshops to multi-month engagements that include stakeholder interviews and intensive coaching.

Community Benefit & Community Health Needs Assessment Checklist
Authored by CHAN Healthcare for the Healthcare Anchor Network, with input from the Healthcare Anchor Network’s Collaborating with Community Stakeholders initiative group, this document presents best practices for aligning Community Benefit and Community Health Needs Assessment processes.

The Anchor Mission: Leveraging the Power of Anchor Institutions to Build Community Wealth
This report from The Democracy Collaborative and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT focuses on the path-breaking Vision 2010 Program implemented in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio by University Hospitals System.

Social and Economic Determinants of Health: The Evidence is Clear
Summary of research that connects economic inclusion with improving health outcomes.

Place-based Investment Overview
One-pager on place-based investment with case studies, key strategies, and tips for getting started.

Anchor Mission Implementation Roadmap
This roadmap collects common milestones in the Anchor Mission implementation journey and shares examples of how health systems have educated staff on community needs and the Anchor Mission vision, created new staff positions to advance anchor strategies, developed dashboards to track progress, and more.

Health Collaborative Invests Millions in Dire Communities
In addition to providing quality healthcare, these hospitals and health systems are investing in safe and affordable housing, equitable economic development, small and diverse business development, and other strategies for addressing the social determinants of health. They are also rethinking how to align, leverage, and deploy their human resources and power to create a local economic eco-system…

Inclusive, Local Procurement Overview
One-pager on inclusive, local purchasing with case studies, key strategies, and tips for getting started.

Inclusive, Local Hiring Overview
One-pager on inclusive, local hiring and workforce development with case studies, key strategies, and tips for getting started.

Hospitals Building Healthier Communities
This 2013 report from The Democracy Collaborative explores how health systems are addressing the upstream social and economic determinants of health.

Place-Based Investing: Creating Sustainable Returns and Strong Communities
The infographic below provides a quick overview of how place-based investing can create sustainable returns and strong communities.

Inclusive, Local Purchasing: Creating Connections, Building Capacity
The infographic below provides a quick overview of how connection-creating and capacity-building strategies can work together to advance local, inclusive sourcing.

Inclusive, Local Hiring: “Outside-In” and “Inside-Up” Strategies
This infographic provides a quick overview of how “outside-in” and “inside-up” strategies work together to create a more inclusive workforce.

Hawaii Pacific Health
Hawai‘i Pacific Health serves Hawaiians with four medical centers – Kapi‘olani, Pali Momi, Straub and Wilcox – and more than 70 locations across the island community.

PowerPoint Pitch on Healthcare’s Anchor Mission
This slide deck can be used to make the case internally for adopting an anchor mission at your hospital or health system. It articulates the moral, business, and community imperative for aligning all assets, including core business practices, to prioritize equity, inclusion, sustainability and community.

New Resource: The Health Sector and the Healthcare Anchor Network Employer Maps
These maps were created to show the central role of hospitals and health systems as significant employers in their local economies. The maps show that Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) members as well as other hospitals and health systems are some of the largest employers in their states and regions. HAN members alone, with 45 health…

Improving Health Through Hiring
This infographic shows how hospitals, health systems and other anchor institutions can improve community health and build community wealth through their everyday hiring and training practices.

The Procurement Sweet Spot
This infographic shows how hospitals, health systems and other anchor institutions can leverage their everyday building and buying to improve community health and build community wealth.

The Health Sector and the Healthcare Anchor Network Employer Maps
These maps were created to show the central role of hospitals and health systems as significant employers in their local economies.


Denver Health
Originally founded as City Hospital in 1860, Denver Health has been serving the people of Denver and the Rocky Mountain Region for more than 150 years. Today, Denver Health delivers preventative, primary and acute care services.

MetroHealth is Building the Local Economy by Supporting Young People
HAN member MetroHealth created the country’s first high school in a hospital, Lincoln-West School of Science and Health, three years ago in Cleveland. In addition to offering regular high school courses, students learn about the health care sector and how to become nurses and doctors. The students come from low income families, and one third…

HAN Members are Investing in Communities and the Future Generation
Bon Secours Mercy Health was one of 14 Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) members that announced commitments of over $700 million in impact investing in November 2019. This Reuters article covers the health system’s investment partnership with Maggie Walker Community Land Trust to build permanently affordable homes in Richmond, Virginia—and the lives this investment has impacted.

Why These Hospitals Have Promised $700 Million for Affordable Housing and More
As the links between physical health and community wealth and vitality become clearer all the time, fourteen regional and national health systems are coming together to commit at least $700 million to investments in affordable housing and economic development in the cities where they’re located. “I think hospitals and health systems are really well poised…

‘Good neighbors’? U.S. hospitals invest in land, housing to treat crisis
This month, Bon Secours was one of 14 healthcare systems across the United States that committed to over $700 million in “place-based” investments, with a primary goal being the development of affordable housing. They are all part of a group called the Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN), a project of the Washington-based research group Democracy Collaborative.”It…

Health System Leaders Announce over $700 Million in Investments to Address Health, Housing & Economic Inequalities through Community Wealth Building
Fourteen hospitals and health systems, including national health systems and regional systems, that are the largest private sector employers in California, Utah, and Wisconsin, along with others that are also among the top 20 largest employers in their states, announced a commitment of over $700 million for place-based investing to create strong and healthy communities.

Place-based Investment Commitment
In signing the Healthcare Anchor Network’s (HAN) Place-based Investment Commitment, health systems commit to redirecting a portion of their investable assets toward impact investments that are place-based and address community conditions that create racial, economic and environmental disparities. The goal of these investments is to improve community health and well-being, particularly for those impacted by…

Hospitals to Help Tackle Economic Drivers of Health Disparities
The national campaign marks the first time that a number of large health systems—such as RWJBarnabas Health in New Jersey, UMass Memorial Health Care in Massachusetts, Advocate Aurora Health in Wisconsin, and Intermountain Healthcare in Utah—have collectively pledged to make such impact investments. Kaiser Permanente plans to make one of the largest, at $200 million, to help…

Why hospitals want to invest in affordable housing
“We’re trying to think about this as a strategy,” says David Zuckerman, director of the Healthcare Anchor Network. “It isn’t a one-time check to the community. This should be one of the ways health systems go back to improving health and well-being for the entire community.” Read the full article at Curbed

Advancing the Anchor Mission of Healthcare
In December 2016, leaders from 40 health systems gathered in Washington, DC to explore the potential to more fully harness their economic power to inclusively and sustainably benefit the long-term well-being of American communities. This report summarizes the events of the convening and presents the health systems’ collective vision of the Healthcare Anchor Network. It…

Can Hospitals Heal America’s Communities?
Healthcare’s role in creating healthy communities through increasing access to quality care, research, and grantmaking is being complemented by a higher impact approach; hospitals and integrated health systems are increasingly stepping outside of their walls to address the social, economic, and environmental conditions that contribute to poor health outcomes, shortened lives, and higher costs in…

Embracing an Anchor Mission
Written by Randy Oostra, CEO of ProMedica, with the support of David Zuckerman and Katie Parker from The Democracy Collaborative, this report offers an in-depth look at how ProMedica—a member of the Healthcare Anchor Network —aligned its institutional operations and clinical practice to better tackle the social determinants of health. From an innovative hospital-owned grocery…

The Anchor Mission Playbook
Written by Rush University Medical Center, with support from Chicago Anchors for a Strong Economy, the Civic Consulting Alliance, and The Democracy Collaborative, this playbook offers recommendations drawn from research carried out to help Rush University Medical Center align around its Anchor Mission. These findings are intended to help other hospitals and health systems accelerate…

Place-based Investing Toolkit
This toolkit outlines place-based investing strategies that allow health systems to earn a financial return on their investments while producing a positive social, economic, or environmental impact within their geographical service areas.

Impact Purchasing Toolkit
This toolkit showcases examples of how hospitals and health systems are supporting diverse and locally owned vendors and helping to incubate new community enterprises to fill supply chain gaps and drive local economic growth in their communities.

Inclusive, Local Hiring Toolkit
This toolkit offers a guide for how to leverage hiring practices to advance inclusive, local job creation and career development for communities experiencing the greatest health and wealth disparities.

With Great Sadness, The Democracy Collaborate Mourns the Passing of Bernard J. Tyson, Chairman & CEO of Kaiser Permanente
The staff at The Democracy Collaborative (TDC) and the Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) are deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden passing of Bernard J. Tyson, Chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente. Words can’t express how much Bernard’s passing impacts all who were fortunate to have met and shared time with him. We would like…

VCU Health
VCU Health, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, serves roughly 40,000 inpatients in the Richmond metro area, and employs 11,000 people.

University of Virginia Health System
UVA Health System, headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia, serves more than 28,000 inpatients and more than 800,000 outpatients annually in central and western Virginia, and employs roughly 7,000 people.

University of Vermont Health Network
UVM Health Network, headquartered in Burlington, Vermont, serves patients in Vermont and upstate New York, and employs 7,500 people.

University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
UNM Health Sciences Center, headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, serves approximately 900,000 patients annually in New Mexico, and employs 19,500 people.

University Hospitals
University Hospitals, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, serves over 1 million patients in northeast Ohio and employs 28,000 people.

UC San Francisco
UCSF Medical Center, headquartered in San Francisco, California, serves the Greater San Francisco area and employs 12,000 people.

Spectrum Health
Spectrum Health, headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, serves 1 million patients at 14 different hospitals throughout western Michigan, and employs 30,000 people.

Seattle Children’s Hospital
Seattle Children’s Hospital, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, serves children in the Greater Seattle area and employs 7,800 people.

San Mateo County Health
San Mateo County Health is headquartered in San Mateo, California and serves as a county level health department.

MetroHealth System
MetroHealth System, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, serves over 300,000 patients annually in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, and employs 7,700 people.

Maimonides Medical Center
Maimonides Medical Center, headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, serves over 43,000 patients annually in that borough of New York City.

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Lurie Children’s Hospital, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, serves more than 220,000 children each year in the Greater Chicago area, and employs 5,000 people.

Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, serves patients at 18 different hospital locations in Northeast Ohio, Florida, Nevada, Toronto and Abu Dhabi, and employs 52,000 people.

Local Coverage of the Place-based Investment Commitment
Many of the initial signatories of the Place-based Investment Commitment received local news coverage of these systems’ commitment to redirecting a portion of their investable assets toward impact investments that are place-based and address community conditions that create racial, economic and environmental disparities. “Advocate Aurora Health to invest $50 million in underserved communities in Illinois,…

14 Hospital Systems to Collaborate in Addressing Social Determinants of Health
“It’s the first time that systems have acknowledged that this strategy of impact investment should be part of their overall strategy for improving health and well-being in their communities,” Zuckerman said. Read the full article at Nonprofit Quarterly

14 health systems to invest $700 million in community health initiative
Fourteen hospitals and health systems today pledged to commit more than $700 million to address social determinants of health needs in their communities as part of the Healthcare Anchor Network, which works to address social, economic, environmental and behavior-related factors that impact community health outcomes. Read the full article at the American Hospital Association