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.
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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 grow the start ups by connecting them to the product needs of Boston’s 20 hospitals and 31 universities, that comprise 18% of Boston’s employees.
Continue ReadingHospital 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 in the community to partner with. Under the program, NJHMFA will match funding contributions from RWJBarnabas Health to develop 65-70 affordable rental apartments in Newark’s South Ward for low- and moderate-income families and for special needs residents.
Continue ReadingAnchor 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?
Continue ReadingKaiser 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.
Continue ReadingAnchor 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, The MetroHealth System, and University Hospitals.
Continue ReadingNew 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 systems represented in the Network, employ more than 1.5 million people. They also purchase over $50 billion annually and have over $100 billion in investment assets. Overall, the healthcare sector has enormous economic power and is responsible for producing 18% of GDP.
Continue ReadingMetroHealth 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 of them speak English as a second language.
Continue ReadingHAN 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.
Continue ReadingWith 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 to express our heartfelt sympathies to his family and his Kaiser Permanente family.
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