Mother Cabrini Health Foundation is a private American charitable foundation that provides funding for healthcare and health-related initiatives in the U.S. state of New York, aimed at low-income and underserved communities. It is the largest health foundation focused only on New York.
History
The foundation was created in 2018 following the sale of Fidelis Care,[2] a private nonprofit health plan that was incorporated by New York State's Catholic bishops in 1993.[3][1] The board of Fidelis sold the plan to Centene for $3.75 billion.[1] As part of the purchase agreement, the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation was created and funded with $3.2 billion from the sale.[1][4]
The foundation awarded its first round of grants for year-end 2019 to benefit programs in 2020, totaling approximately $150 million.[5][2] It provided grants to around 500 organizations and initiatives,[2] including Gates Vascular Institute and the John R. Oishei Children's Hospital.[6] In 2020, the foundation committed an additional $50 million of funding, specifically to support COVID-19 related programs that would help New Yorkers affected by the virus.[7][8] For its year-end 2020 grants, the foundation provided $115 million to 400 recipients including the Brooklyn Hospital Center, Montefiore Medical Center, NYC Health + Hospitals,[5][9]Canisius College,[10] and Hilbert College.[11] The organization awarded a total of $165 million in grants for 2020.[12] In May 2021, it announced an additional $20 million in funding for COVID-19 related programs.[13] As of February 2022, the foundation had awarded a total of $470 million in grants since it was established. Its year end 2021 grants provided $140 million for approximately 450 recipients.[14] The foundation was the largest private donor for 45% of the programs it funded in the 2021 grants, and around 50% of the grants were $250,000 or more.[15]
In 2022, the Foundation provided $2 million in funding for FoodMap NY, a project focused on long-term solutions for food insecurity, including support for farmers in New York state.[16] The organization also supported a study by New York healthcare associations into workforce issues in mid-2022, to help identify ways to address healthcare workforce issues.[17][18] In January 2023, the Foundation announced that it had committed $165 million in grants to approximately 538 programs and organizations in New York,[19] focused on areas including mental health services, dental care, healthcare worker training and recruitment,[20] and long-term care for the elderly and disabled individuals.[21] In total, the foundation had provided $635 million in grants between 2019 and 2023.[22]
The Foundation awarded a total of $172 million to 514 grantees in its year-end 2023 grant giving.[23] Approximately half of the grants continued support for grantees from previous years.[24] From 2019 to 2024, the foundation had awarded 2,700 grants for a total of approximately $800 million.[24] The grants focused on programs aiming to improve health equity,[25] including programs for asylum seekers and other immigrants, individuals dealing with addiction or mental health needs, and children.[26]
Organization
The foundation is headquartered in New York City.[27] It was named for Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, a Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and was the first naturalized American citizen to be canonized a saint. She worked to help poor immigrants and children in New York.[2][1]
The foundation is among the 25 wealthiest charitable foundations in the United States, based on its assets, and the largest to focus on New York State.[27] Grants from the foundation are provided to initiatives and organizations that support underserved and low-income communities in New York State and aim to improve healthcare and quality of life, specifically social determinants of health.[2][28]
