Hospitals “Prescribe” Affordable and Better Houses for Residents’ Health

Affordable housing is an ongoing concern in the United States, but healthcare systems across the nations have been deciding to step up and take the matter in their own hands.

A Washington-based research group, Democracy Collaborative, began a project two years ago called the Healthcare Anchor Network, which has since grown to over 40 health systems on a mission to improve housing in their communities.

One of the hospital systems, Bon Secours Mercy Health, took this mission one step further upon seeing the neighborhood in their Richmond, Virginia hospital struggle with issues related to gentrification – the renovation of a district that can force out low-income residents through higher costs of living. So, the group largely funded a nonprofit, the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust, which launched last year to buy and repair homes, later selling them at a cheaper price while keeping title to the land.

The director for community health at Bon Secours Richmond, Becky Clay Christensen, highlights that the group’s approach is a “neighborhood strategy” that has an indirect impact on health and wellness in the long-term. “If a nonprofit rehabilitates Ms. Smith’s house, she’s not instantly healthier. But because of her rehabbed house, (she) is now in a more stable situation,” she explains with a hypothetical example, adding, “We know that the constant stress that goes with poverty is profound and real. So, in a strange way, this all does come back to health.”