Improving the health and wellbeing of our communities

The healthcare people receive in a hospital or clinic is only a small part of a person’s overall health. That’s why our commitment to advancing health equity goes beyond the walls of our facilities and reaches out into the community.

We collaborate with community partners to improve health and wellbeing and advance health equity. Our priorities include:

• Bringing clinical services into neighborhoods to expand access
• Advancing our anchor mission initiatives – local hiring, local purchasing, local investing, and leading and serving locally
• Addressing social risk factors through food access and housing programs and community education and outreach.

Why is this a priority for our healthcare system? Nearly 80 percent of health is influenced by factors outside of clinical care. These factors, called the social determinants of health, are our health behaviors and the economic and social conditions in which we live.

To help address the social determinants of health, we are creating a health and wellness hub in downtown St. Paul that will focus on health, housing, and supportive services for the community. 

All this work is closely tied to our HOPE Commission’s health equity and anti-racism efforts. It’s designed to be culturally appropriate and to meet the specific needs of the community. We seek to do “with” and not “to” the communities we belong to and are proud to contribute to our community in so many ways.