At UnitedHealthcare Community & State, we are re-envisioning the way we work with states and community-based organizations to address the complex needs of those we serve. New approaches to clinical models, partnerships, and data analytics play important roles in how we are supporting the push to integrate care between the health care, human services, and housing sectors. Another critical element in that work is targeted investments.
In 2019, we worked with more than 45 community-based organizations to improve health and well-being in local communities. In partnership with UnitedHealth Group Treasury, UnitedHealthcare Community & State invested more than $9 million dollars in organizations to expand access to services and improve quality of care, address public health crises, pilot or scale health care and social service collaborations, and develop affordable housing.
We are proud to work with each of our community partners and want to highlight a few of the programs and organizations:
- Capacity Building: UnitedHealthcare partnered with the San Diego Food Bank to expand database connectivity to 50 new food distribution sites. Grant funds were used to to modernize systems to enhance access and improve client experience.
- Public Health Crises: UnitedHealthcare has partnered with the Tennessee Initiative for Perinatal Quality Care on an initiative to improve the health of pregnant women and infants impacted by the opioid epidemic since 2018. Fourteen maternal-focused provider teams and 19 infant-focused provider teams from hospitals and clinics across the state are currently participating in the comprehensive quality improvement initiative.
- Health and Social Services Collaborations: UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Pennsylvania launched partnerships with three employment-focused organizations across the Commonwealth in 2019 to address quality and stability of work. The grants are expanding the capacity of Fayette County Community Training Institute, Southwest Community Development Corporation, and Tec Centro to provide employment support services to the community and UnitedHealthcare members when employment needs are identified.
- Affordable Housing: UnitedHealthcare invested $6.4M in affordable housing tax credits for the development of 70 new units of affordable housing for seniors in Wharton, Texas, and Choctaw, Oklahoma. These investments are part of Enterprise efforts to improve health through access to housing. The new housings sites will provide on-site health related services for residents and one of our community-based partners will measure, analyze, and report on health outcomes of residents of the properties.
We recognize that engaging across sectors, developing new approaches and investing in best-practices are vital to successfully addressing health and social needs and ultimately improving health outcomes. Stay tuned for updates about these collaborative efforts as the work continues to evolve.
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