Mass. Hospital Groups Pledge To Help Minority-Owned Businesses

Two Massachusetts hospital groups are among a dozen health systems nationwide that have pledged to increase spending with minority- and women-owned businesses by at least $1 billion over five years.

The so-called Impact Purchasing Commitment pledges made Wednesday by Springfield-based Baystate Health and Worcester-based UMass Memorial Health also apply to local and employee-owned, cooperatively-owned businesses and nonprofits, Masslive.com reported.

“The IPC pledge is a capital investment that aims to advance racial and gender equity and improve community health,” Dr. Mark A. Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health, said in a statement.

The hospital groups are all part of the Healthcare Anchor Network, an association of 40 hospital systems.

“With a focus on increasing purchasing efforts with local, minority and women owned businesses, UMass Memorial Health can help create job growth and make a direct impact on many of the devastating social determinants of health factors that contribute to the inequities we see in the communities we serve,” the organization said in a statement.