TOLEDO (May 22, 2019)—Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and ProMedica are seeking applications for financing through the LISC-ProMedica Health Impact Investment Fund, a loan pool designed for real estate and small business development projects that benefit communities in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. The pool is part of a broader alliance between LISC and ProMedica to scale up economic opportunity and improve health outcomes in Toledo and the surrounding region over the next decade.
Health Impact Investment Fund loans target development projects that improve health by increasing economic opportunity, promoting environmental sustainability, supporting community safety or otherwise addressing the social determinants of health (SDOH). The approach is rooted in the growing recognition of the major role quality housing, access to healthy foods, and financial stability play in shaping the health of people and communities. The Fund has garnered significant attention from health care leaders around the country who are exploring strategic ways to invest in communities to produce results that serve mission and business interests.
Several projects are already underway using funding from the LISC-ProMedica Health Impact Investment Fund. So far, a total of $686,000 has been committed to acquisition and predevelopment loans for projects that will redevelop formerly vacant properties into safe and productive residential, commercial, and green spaces.
“Healthcare has traditionally invested heavily in high-tech clinical care and state-of-the-art facilities, yet we underinvest in programs to improve socioeconomic factors. This is despite scientific evidence of how these factors greatly influence a person’s health status,” said Randy Oostra, ProMedica president and CEO. “For several years now, ProMedica has been devoting more resources to address social needs. Now through this partnership with LISC, we will maximize the impact of our efforts, starting in UpTown, and demonstrate the power of partnering with other sectors to accomplish a shared goal.”
“Your zip code should not determine your prospects in life,” said Maurice Jones, president and CEO of LISC, a national community development organization that is managing the Health Impact Fund, including its new approach to assessing and tracking the health impact of projects.
"We have to combine expertise and resources to focus on social, economic, and health challenges—all in the same place at the same time—if we want to give families the best chance possible to thrive,” Jones added.
The investment effort builds on LISC and ProMedica’s long-time commitment to these issues.
ProMedica, which recently expanded to serve communities in 28 states, has emerged as a national leader on SDOH, demonstrating how health institutions can leverage their expertise and resources to go beyond hospital walls. ProMedica has been screening and studying the impact of social needs on the health of its patients, finding that financial strain, employment, behavioral health, and access to healthy food are among the most critical indicators. As an anchor institution, it also serves as a catalyst for community collaboration and economic development, including ensuring that area neighborhoods thrive.
LISC is drawing on a robust history of health-promoting investment to shape the ProMedica partnership, including its $200 million Healthy Futures Fund which financed more than 600 units of affordable housing and 300,000 square feet of clinical facilities. For 40 years, LISC has been investing in thousands of urban and rural communities across the country, including $150 million in Toledo since 1989. In late 2017, LISC announced a new strategic focus on improving health and well-being, recognizing its influence in the fight to close gaps in health equity through its work in affordable housing, community leadership development, quality jobs, financial stability, healthy food access, and safety. The partnership with ProMedica is among several new alliances LISC has made with health care leaders that reflect its expanded health focus.
For more information about the LISC-ProMedica Health Impact Investment Fund, or to start an application, go to toledolisc.org.
About ProMedica: ProMedica is a mission-based, not-for-profit integrated healthcare organization headquartered in Toledo, Ohio. It serves communities in 28 states. The organization offers acute and ambulatory care, an insurance company with a dental plan, and post-acute and academic business lines. The organization has more than 56,000 employees, 13 hospitals, 2,100+ physicians and advanced practice providers with privileges, 900+ healthcare providers employed by ProMedica Physicians, a health plan, and nearly 400 assisted living facilities, skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers, memory care communities, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and hospice and home health care agencies. Driven by its Mission to improve your health and well-being, ProMedica has been nationally recognized for its advocacy programs and efforts to address social determinants of health. For more information about ProMedica, please visit www.promedica.org/aboutus.
About LISC: With residents and partners, LISC forges resilient and inclusive communities of opportunity across America – great places to live, work, visit, do business and raise families. Since 1980, LISC has invested $20 billion to build or rehabilitate 400,500 affordable homes and apartments and develop 67 million square feet of retail, community and educational space. LISC investments have leveraged more than $60 billion across the country for initiatives related to better housing, businesses, safety, health and jobs. For more, visit www.lisc.org.
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