Two years after receiving a $10 million gift to target healthcare’s biggest issues, Cleveland-based University Hospitals has received an additional $13.5 million to accelerate the project.
In June 2023, University Hospitals launched the Veale Initiative for Healthcare Transformation to improve patient value through cost and waste reductions. The 21-hospital system invested the $10 million into several projects, including those targeting length of stay reductions, chronic disease management, accelerating its virtual nursing model, reducing complications and increasing access.
“The initiative found quick success and made clear and demonstrable impact; as a result, the Veale Foundation has increased their support and UH has established an institute dedicated to the effort,” according to a June 2 news release.
Peter Pronovost, MD, PhD, chief quality and clinical transformation officer, told Becker’s each intervention received a per-patient monetary value.
“When [Veale Foundation Chair] Dan Harrington was giving us the gift, he said, ‘If I give you $10 million and you spend $10 million, I didn’t create any value,’ which I 100% agree with,” Dr. Pronovost said. “And so we set out to mutually agree on a commitment to that $10 million over five years would return $156 million in value, either in reduced cost takeout or increased revenue.”
That agreement is equal to a 15 times return on investment. As part of the deal, UH promised to deliver $16 million in value after six quarters. It attained $44 million, Dr. Pronovost said.
He called the effort “venture philanthropy,” which is defined by a promised value return on a donation.
“With the headwinds that healthcare faces and potentially the disruption in federal research funding or potentially other funding, healthcare has a mindset of scarcity,” Dr. Pronovost said. “I think this venture philanthropy is a mindset of abundance, that we can get more of what matters. It’s a little scary, because you were accountable for delivering the results, but the reality is we should be because our patients in our communities deserve that.”
