The Beginning

In October 1997, the First Hospital Foundation is established as part of the merger between Pennsylvania Hospital and the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. Our charge is to perpetuate the Good Samaritan mission of Pennsylvania Hospital as set forth in 1751. Our secondary purpose is to support the preservation of historic artifacts and memorials at Pennsylvania Hospital.

During our first years of operation, the foundation’s mission is to support nonprofits whose programs and services address the health and well-being of the most vulnerable and underserved populations in Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, and Bucks counties.

First Grants

In 1999, we award our first grants totaling $600,000 to 12 nonprofit organizations. Advancing health equity is at the core of our grantmaking. In the decade that follows, our grantmaking aims to:

• Improve access to quality health care and behavioral health services by the uninsured, under-insured, and medically underserved;
• Reduce public health risks;
• Promote the health and well-being of children and families, particularly perinatal care;
• Provide supports for children at risk and populations with special needs;
• Educate, train, and advocate for improved healthcare outcomes;
• Develop replicable, innovative approaches to healthcare delivery.

We bring people, organizations, and resources together in the five-county metropolitan region, particularly in Philadelphia, to advance knowledge in the field and to make a positive difference in the health and well-being of those in need.

Social and Economic Drivers

Our grantmaking evolves to address social and economic drivers of health in addition to increasing direct connection to care. We support programs to prevent and respond to intimate partner and family violence and to increase access to healthy food. We launch a strategy focused on integration of behavioral health services in primary care.

In 2009, we surpass $10 million in grants awarded.

Grantmaking in action includes:

• Family Practice and Counseling Network’s 11th Street Family Health Services of Drexel University’s development of Primary Care Behavioral Health model of care for children and families;
• MANNA’s launch of the “Food is Medicine” research project to demonstrate the effectiveness of their home-delivered meal and counseling program at lowering health care costs and improving individual health outcomes;
• Women Against Abuse’s establishment of behavioral health services in emergency and transitional housing.

Partnerships

We foster partnerships, including between health providers and community-based organizations, to advance health equity.

In 2009, the Puentes de Salud health clinic is launched in South Philadelphia with the Latina Community Health project of Pennsylvania Hospital’s Ob/Gyn Department to provide free health care to immigrant families. To support this collaboration, we invest nearly $850,000 over eight years.

In 2011, we award our first Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) grant to Legal Clinic for the Disabled (LCD) to provide legal services at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. As of 2022, we have invested nearly $1.7 million in MLP programs with LCD, Philadelphia Legal Assistance, Community Legal Services, and Justice at Work.

In 2011, we also launch a seven-year investment to help meet the unmet vision needs of thousands of children in Philadelphia by supporting Give Kids Sight Day, a collaborative effort of Public Citizens for Children and Youth (now Children First), Wills Eye Institute, Eagles Charitable Foundation, and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, among others.

Advocacy

We collaborate with community-based organizations that focus on policy, systems, and structural change. We support organizations like Pennsylvania Health Access Network and Children First to advocate and organize for issues like access to health insurance and public benefits, safe and healthy housing conditions, and childhood lead poisoning prevention.

In 2016, we launch a four-year project to support community members to navigate Pennsylvania’s transition to mandatory managed care for long-term services and support through Community HealthChoices. In 2017, we develop a Rapid Response grants process to support nonprofits responding to time-sensitive challenges including policy and system changes.

Strategic Planning

Almost two decades after the foundation’s creation, our Board engages in a strategic planning process to adapt to the changing health care environment and focus our resources to have the greatest impact. We agree that the complex and interrelated issues facing individuals, families, and communities can only be addressed through a long-term effort, significant grant awards, and sustained investment.

In 2018, we introduce our new name as Philadelphia Health Partnership. We define Philadelphia as our primary geographic area of focus and share a refined vision, mission, and guiding principles that will inform strategic initiatives on early childhood health and development and equity in health.

After 19 years and $4.0 million in grants to support the preservation of the historical artifacts and memorials at Pennsylvania Hospital, the foundation establishes a Pennsylvania Hospital Artifacts Endowment at the University of Pennsylvania to sustain this aspect of our founding mission.

Early Childhood Health and Development

Our early childhood strategic initiative is established to promote the health and development of children from prenatal to age five as a building block for lifelong well-being. We fund programs and partnerships focused on supporting positive relationships and early experiences that set children on the pathway to thrive.

Our initiative builds on our long-term history of support for local maternal and child health organizations like Maternity Care Coalition. New grantee partners include ParentChild+, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia PolicyLab, and Education Law Center. In 2020, we make a three-year early childhood grant to expand the Attachment Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) program in the Philadelphia Infant Toddler Early Intervention Program.

Equity in Health

We develop our equity in health strategic initiative to drive progress on our belief that attaining optimal physical, mental, and social well-being across the lifespan is a human right. We expand support for immigrant- and refugee- serving organizations that provide health access, navigation, and case management services including African Family Health Organization, La Puerta Abierta, Nationalities Service Center, and SEAMAAC.

In 2020, we award $549,000 in rapid response grants to community-based organizations addressing COVID-19’s health and economic impacts. We sharpen our focus on the disparities revealed and exacerbated by the pandemic including advancing racial justice: supporting equitable opportunities and outcomes for individuals and groups impacted by structural racism and historic injustice and colonialism.

Future Directions

In 2022, we launch our Nurture, Connect, Advocate, Lead framework to communicate our grantmaking and advocacy priorities. We also award multi-year grants to support two new early childhood partnerships:

• A HealthySteps pilot at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to integrate early childhood development and parenting/caregiving supports in pediatric primary care;
• Design and implementation of a parent- and caregiver-led grantmaking process by Bread & Roses Community Fund to resource early childhood organizing, advocacy, and community action projects.

As we enter 2023, we are poised to expand support for perinatal health and well-being and to develop new opportunities to promote racial justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion in the health and human services sectors.