On September 10, the Healthcare for Housing Minnesota (HC4H) coalition gathered at Allina Commons in south Minneapolis to explore how healthcare organizations can invest in affordable housing to improve community health.
The meeting was convened by Greater Minnesota Housing Fund and was attended by leaders from nine health systems (Allina, Essentia, Children’s Minnesota, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, CentraCare, Fairview, UCare, HealthPartners, and Medica) and key healthcare associations the Minnesota Hospital Association and the Minnesota Council on Health Plans.
GMHF kicked off the meeting by sharing the impact of the Housing and Health Initiative over the last four years, including:
- $22 million invested by healthcare partners across 17 affordable housing projects
- 1,262 affordable housing units created, including 115 units with enriched stabilization services
- A total of $362 million was invested in these projects
The highlight of the gathering was a panel featuring Tami Koosman (VP of Finance & Investment, Allina Health), Kevin Boren (CFO, Essentia Health – Eastern Market), and Pablo Bravo (former CIO, CommonSpirit Health). These healthcare finance and investment leaders shared their experience, rationale, and benefits from pursuing community impact investments.
The panel emphasized the following:
- There is a clear mission alignment in pursuing affordable housing investment as a non-profit health system, religious based organization, or through a Community Health Needs Assessment that identify housing as a community priority.
- Investments can move forward more easily as a set-aside for social impacts within a larger portfolio of investment. This social impact set-aside brings benefits beyond return of principal and a risk adjusted return, such as lower healthcare costs at facilities and organizational benefits like reputational capital, competitiveness, and tangible homes created that can be highlighted in community benefits reporting.
- These systems all used balance sheet investment resources or regulated capital within their existing portfolio for investment, not operating or other sources that compete with critical care and other facility priorities.
- Making the first impact investment provides the opportunity to learn and grow the practice and an easy way to start is with a “fund” structure, like GMHF’s Healthcare for Housing Fund, that simplifies your investment using a trusted partner’s experience, due diligence, and track record.
To provide an easy investment vehicle for healthcare system investment, GMHF launched the Healthcare for Housing Fund. This $30 million fund, already capitalized at $16 million with GMHF and healthcare partner investments, will raise an additional $14 million from healthcare partners to create or preserve 2,000 units of housing and improve access to healthcare for 5,000 people in communities throughout Minnesota.
After the panel discussion, the group toured the Midwell Apartments just down the street from Allina Headquarters. Completed in 2024, this workforce housing project benefited from the Allina Health investment into GMHF’s Healthcare for Housing Fund. This development provides 86 units of affordable housing, including multiple 3- and 4-bedroom apartments and 11 units reserved for people transitioning from homelessness to housing stability with supportive services provided by Simpson Housing.
Attendees left the meeting inspired and committed to working across sectors to improve housing stability in Minnesota.
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