Spectrum Health has joined several health systems around the country that committed to increasing purchases from local minority- and women-owned businesses.
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The dozen U.S. health systems that signed on to Washington, D.C.-based Healthcare Anchor Network’s “Impact Purchasing Commitment” will increase spending by at least $1 billion over five years with minority- and women-owned businesses, and enterprises that are owned by employees, cooperatives and nonprofits.
The health systems also agree to adopt sustainable procurement goals for goods and services that “minimize damage to health and the environment.”
“The mission of Spectrum Health is to improve health, inspire hope and save lives. We embrace our role as an anchor institution by applying employment, procurement and investment practices to increase diversity among our team members and suppliers, eliminate health inequities in our communities, and foster a welcoming culture of belonging for all,” Spectrum Health President and CEO Tina Freese Decker said in a statement. “These practices support economic health in our region, building on established partnerships and collaborations, and providing people the resources they need to live fuller, healthier lives.”
The Healthcare Anchor Network came together after 40 health care leaders met in late 2016 to “explore how their systems could more fully harness their economic power to inclusively and sustainably benefit the long-term health and well-being of the communities they serve,” according to the organization’s website.
Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System is also part of the Healthcare Anchor Network, whose members collectively employ more than 1.5 million people, buy more than $75 billion in goods and services annually, and hold $150 billion in investment assets.
The member health systems also agreed to work with at least two large existing vendors “to create hiring pipelines in the disinvested communities that they serve” and sustainable procurement goals, according to today’s announcement.
“Health systems are uniquely positioned to have positive impacts as leading employers and economic engines in their communities,” Healthcare Anchor Network Executive Director David Zuckerman said. “In addition to providing quality healthcare, they can leverage institutional resources, including almost $500 billion in annual spending, to help address the economic, racial, and environmental resource disparities that impact community health outcomes.”
