Innovation became more of an organizational imperative than ever before in 2019, with many hospitals and health systems creating innovation centers, programs and investment funds throughout the year.
Here are 18 organizations that launched new innovation programs and projects in the second half of the year, when Becker's began documenting these efforts on a dedicated innovation channel.
Editor's note: This is not an exhaustive list of new hospital innovation initiatives. Entries are arranged in reverse chronological order of when they were reported.
1. NYU Langone Health opened BioLabs@NYULangone, a New York City-based biotechnology incubator, with 22 industry partners.
2. Boston-based Partners HealthCare announced a $100 million, five-year initiative focused on improving patient experience and boosting digital innovation.
3. A new for-profit joint venture backed by Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and Gore-Tex maker W.L. Gore & Associates aims to develop implantable cell therapies for incurable diseases.
4. Kaiser Permanente Ventures, the investment arm of Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, closed its fifth investment fund with $141 million in funding from Pittsburgh-based Highmark Health, Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System and more.
5. Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health unveiled an "innovation sandbox" program called Cone Health Ventures, where new products and services codeveloped with healthcare entrepreneurs will be tested before widespread deployment.
6. Shriners Hospitals for Children in Tampa, Fla., partnered with genomics telehealth company Genome Medical to launch a new genomics institute to advance precision medicine and genetic services.
7. Partners HealthCare allotted a total of $80 million for the creation of two investment funds supporting innovation in artificial intelligence, digital technology and preclinical life sciences.
8. The new Diversity and Inclusion Hub at New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System's Icahn School of Medicine was created to apply data and technology to address social determinants of health.
9. Falls Church, Va.-based Inova Health received approval to develop an innovation district, called the Inova Center for Personalized Health, in Fairfax, Va.
10. Valley Children's Healthcare in Madera, Calif., partnered with the Innovation Institute to launch an innovation program, George's Idea Lab, within the institute's own Innovation Lab.
11. Seattle Children's opened Building Cure, a 540,000-square-foot biomedical research center located in downtown Seattle's "biotech corridor."
12. Durham, N.C.-based Duke University and Duke Health unveiled a new center dedicated to developing engineering technologies to research the human genome's connection to common diseases.
13. Bothell-based Molina Healthcare of Washington created the $3 million Molina Community Innovation Fund to support nonprofit organizations in the region addressing gaps in access to quality healthcare.
14. Lafayette (La.) General Health launched its second healthcare innovation fund to invest in early-stage healthcare companies, backed by funding from New Orleans-based Ochsner Health System, among others.
15. Houston-based MD Anderson Cancer Center partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim to establish the Virtual Research and Development Center for data-driven drug discovery.
16. The new Innovation Center at Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health was created to support the development of life-saving technologies, services and initiatives.
17. Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare's investment arm OSF Ventures closed its second innovation-focused venture capital fund, totaling $75 million.
18. LifeBridge Health in Baltimore opened a virtual hospital at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, designed to combine the use of a clinical command center, telemedicine services and international clinical call centers.