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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 how anchor mission hospitals and health systems are leveraging local and inclusive hiring and purchasing, and impact investing to transform the economic and consequent health and well-being of socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals and neighborhoods.

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 disparities and solutions to ensure health equity.

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 for the pandemic, leading to 13 new expected hires.

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% […]

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 and treat COVID-19 cases for homeless individuals. The health system wants to tap into and support the capacity of infrastructures that already exist, including those with national reach, in order to most effectively and efficiently meet community needs.

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.

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 100 employees.

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 for stable, affordable, and healthy housing. 19 HAN member health systems participated in the event either in-person or virtually, and 22 health systems signed onto a Principles for Healthy and Affordable Housing document that was shared with Congressional members.