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Today in Health IT, we are discussing University Hospitals make 3 million investment in multi family, mixed income housing development in Hough neighborhood. My name is Sarah Richardson. I'm a former CIO for several healthcare systems, most notably within HC and Optum, and now President of Community Development at This Week Health, where we host a set of channels and events dedicated to transforming healthcare one connection at a time. Today's episode is brought to you by Google Chrome OS with Windows 10 end of support approaching healthcare systems can repurpose existing hardware by installing Chrome OS Flex.

Lowering costs, bolstering security with an OS that's never had a reported successful ransomware attack, all while integrating with their existing apps, solutions, and more. Learn more at thisweekhealth. com slash google dash chrome OS. And I am joined by Kate Gamble, Managing Editor here at This Week Health.

Kate, welcome to the show. Thank you, Sarah. Looking forward to it. I am, too, because this is a fascinating perspective about how healthcare systems are solving challenges within their local communities. So today, we're diving into an incredible example of how healthcare institutions are investing beyond the walls of a hospital into housing.

University Hospitals has committed 3 million to a housing project in Cleveland's Huff neighborhood. But why does the healthcare system care about real estate? What does this mean for social determinants of health and healthcare IT? We're going to break it all down today. Yeah, that's right. And social determinants are a topic that we've covered a few times, and we will continue to because it's so interesting and such a key part of healthcare.

So the link between stable housing and health outcomes is undeniable, but this investment isn't just about housing. It's about an innovative approach to care data driven strategies and new financing models that CIOs and healthcare executives should pay attention to. I'm going to have a start with why this matters the way that it does, because the CDC has long emphasized the connection between housing and health outcomes, and unstable housing leads to stress, chronic conditions, and increased ER visits.

So investing in mixed income developments like this isn't just about philanthropy, it's a strategic move to improve patient health and reduce burden on hospitals. Exactly. A healthier community Means fewer preventable hospital visits. If someone has stable housing, they're more likely to stick to medication regimens, make routine doctor visits, and avoid crises that lead to expensive emergency care, which we know is a huge issue.

Yeah, those frequent flyers and people coming in over and over again for repeated incidents that are due to things like their housing situation. So one of the most exciting aspects of this investment is really how data can help track its impact. So

what if could monitor reductions in ER visits, improvements in community health, and the long term return on investment? And this is where CIOs and IT leaders come into play. Yeah, that's a really good point. So healthcare IT teams can integrate social determinants of health data into EHRs and predictive analytics tools.

So imagine if hospitals could proactively identify patients at risk of housing insecurity and connect them with resources before it becomes a crisis. You bringing this up reminds me of a story in one of the Malcolm Gladwell books, and I want to say it was called What the Dog Saw, and it was literally about a gentleman named Million Dollar Murray, and he was a frequent flyer in the AD in Reno, I recall, and He was in the ED all of the time for so many reasons, whether it was food insecurity or he was too cold that night, et cetera.

And so they had created an opportunity for him to have housing and that whole model about what it looks like when someone's constantly coming into your ED because of all of these different reasons, it was less expensive to provide housing for him. Than it was to spend a million dollars on his ED visits.

When you think about the financial model, so the structure of this investment instead of a grant, it was structured to be a soft debt mortgage with a below market interest rate, which is essentially making it a long-term sustainable investment. So it's really an innovative financing model.

So as you mentioned before, this isn't just philanthropy, although that is important. UHS isn't giving the money away. They're expecting a return that will help sustain their ability to fund future initiatives. So it's a model that I really think other healthcare organizations could consider when you're investing in community health projects.

I also have to believe, Kate, there's going to be spaces, especially in urban developments, where you have that unused office space or that repurposing of space that could be beneficial to the healthcare system. Not all healthcare systems want to get into the real estate business, except that when you think about larger healthcare systems who may pursue this type of model, they're already in the real estate business, whether they're adding hospitals, adding clinics, mergers, acquisitions, et cetera.

This isn't that far fetched of an idea for them. No, it's really not. Look at the number of malls. We're seeing this where I live in New Jersey. That are no longer in business. This is space that could be used for this really important cause. What I love is that this investment specifically aligns with University Hospital's Community Health Investment Strategy, which focuses on economic opportunity, maternal and child health, which you and I talk about all the time, and overall well being.

But healthcare leaders need a long term vision for these types of investments. Oh, yeah, definitely. And for CIOs, it means thinking about data driven community health initiatives. The ability to measure and report on the impacts of these projects is critical, whether it's tracking hospitalization rates, patient engagement, or social service utilization.

You want to see some type of return. So I really like what they're doing though, and if you look at, and we've spoken with leaders at other organizations who are taking steps in this direction and people who are really passionate about social determinants, people like Ray Lowe and Cletus Earl, who are champions for this, and I'm really encouraged that we could see other organizations take a page from this book.

We can and we do it to your point. You've got Ray and Cletus also Tressa Springman, how some of the initiatives they needed for outreach for their community started at the barbershop because that's where they knew populations of gentlemen would be to feel like it was safer to have entry points and access into their health care system.

So when you think about that comprehensive view of a community health, when I say investment strategy, it's not just about the monetary investment in real estate. That investment in the people, in the places where they feel safe, in the areas where you can build a relationship and create trust with the healthcare system.

Meeting people where they are to get them access to care, which may then lead to housing, food insecurity, med adherence, et cetera. So many different aspects to look at this and something that allows people to be involved in their community beyond just what the hospital's walls are providing to the people that need them the most.

Absolutely. So what's the takeaway here? Like the university hospital is setting a new precedent for healthcare driven community investments. It's about long term impact and not just a short term solution. It is. And it's a great reminder for healthcare leaders. CIOs included, that we need to think beyond the hospital walls.

As you said, housing, food security, transportation, these are all healthcare issues. So the question is, how do we use technology and strategy to maximize our impact? A question that will continue to come up in our city tour dinners, our summits between you and I, and let us know your thoughts on this, because this is something we will continue to follow.

This is a comprehensive plan about the communities that we serve every day. And what a fantastic way to see something in action that we can track. And also talk to those leaders who are implementing these ideas.

Kate, thank you for joining me and remember to share this podcast with a friend or colleague. Use it as a foundation for daily or weekly discussions on the topics that are relevant to you and the industry. They can subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening. That's all for now. Okay.

I liked it for next week. I'm going to tweak a little bit deeper on a couple of the topics. So like we talk about like data and tracking and all that, maybe add a little more elementation, which is a word I just made up, I think, but it flowed, but to your point, like just what this is going through it together, I'm like, yeah, I might add a couple more tidbits, but it definitely works.

Yeah. Yeah. But I want it. So we need to figure out who is at that hospital that we need to hunt down and interview them. I know. Yeah. We'll figure it out. Can't be that hard to figure out. I think it might be him. Might be. Yeah. All right, we'll find him. I love that. That's Cleveland, so I can always ask Christina.

She'll be at VIBE next week with us. We can ask her who's there because right now we have two people coming to Cleveland. Nobody RSVP'd for Detroit and we sent out 27 invitations. Isn't that crazy? Some cities are just like weird, but it's not until July, so I have hope. I think Cleveland's going to get dumped and then we'll replace it with Portland, but Detroit's going to be an interesting one.

Okay, that was Tuesday.