Health giant Florida Blue to invest $25 million in Black communities around Florida
A health industry giant is pledging millions of dollars to address racial injustices and inequities in Black communities around the state.
Guidewell Mutual Holding Corporation, the Jacksonville-based nonprofit that owns Florida Blue (an independent licensee of Blue Cross Blue Shield); Truli for Health; Diagnostic Clinic Medical Group and a number of other healthcare companies will invest $25 million over five years through its philanthropic arm Florida Blue Foundation.
The money will be dispersed through the company’s newly formed initiative Equity Alliance, to be led by a task force of internal stakeholders and outside advisors. The initiative will work in conjunction with ASPIRE, the company’s employee affinity group for people of color, to develop and implement efforts to combat systemic racism and improve healthcare outcomes in underprivileged communities.
“We are at a turning point in the historical fight for equal justice, opportunity and better healthcare for Black people,” said Pat Geraghty, president and CEO of GuideWell and Florida Blue, in a statement. “We cannot fulfill our mission of helping people and communities achieve better health without doing the urgent and necessary work to end systemic racism.
In 2019, Guidewell donated more than $1.2 million in grants to more than 80 Black and community development organizations, including the Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center, Urban League of Broward County and the neighborhood food pantries Feeding South Florida, according to Doug Bartel, senior director of business development, media and external relations for Florida Blue.
Equity Alliance’s initial efforts will focus on evaluating and approving organization grant requests, commissioning internal and external research on the impact of systemic racism on healthcare outcomes, and convening community leaders with like-minded companies to advance racial justice and healthcare outcomes in Black communities.
The announcement comes as the country enters its fourth weekend of nationwide #BlackLivesMatters protests after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
“Equity Alliance represents our long-term commitment and responsibility to accelerate support of our Black employees, members and communities,” Geraghty said. “We have a long history of standing up for social and racial equality, but we need to do more.”
Information is available at guidewell.com/blog.
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 1:59 PM.
_pp%20Cropped.jpg)