The Florida Institute for Health Innovation (formerly known as the Florida Public Health Institute) is a tax-exempt charitable organization based in West Palm Beach, Florida. It performs community-level health research throughout Southeast Florida and claims to provide impartial analysis of healthcare issues for the purpose of impacting public policy.¹ FIHI was formerly known as the Florida Public Health Institute, but rebranded in 2014 to expand its influence statewide.

As a Public Health Institute (PHI), FIHI receives both public funding and private foundation funding to provide research, training, and policy development materials to local governments, often in partnership with academia and community organizations. FIHI also supports left-leaning political issues, including left-of-center environmentalist policies and the Obamacare health law.

FIHI is one of 40-member Public Health Institutes within the framework of the National Network of Public Health Institutes.² NNPHI directs public health initiatives by providing pass-through funding and administrative resources to its members, which receive more than $1.5 billion in annual funding from all sources.³

Background

The Florida Institute for Health Innovation was founded in 2001 with support from the Miami-Dade County Health Department, and was known as the Miami-Dade County Public Health Institute. In 2006, FIHI reincorporated as the Florida Public Health Institute—which it is still widely referred—and was awarded $1.25 million from the Quantum Foundation, the National Network of Public Health Institutes, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.⁴

FIHI’s early work focused on expanding local healthcare safety net programs, but has since grown to incorporate national left-wing agenda items. In 2013, it embraced Obamacare and participated in Southeast Florida enrollment efforts in conjunction with Enroll America and Obama administration-funded community enrollment navigators.⁵

In 2016, FIHI called for the financial services sector to improve the financial health of low-income individuals which it says would improve physical health.⁶ FIHI has also highlighted the LGBT community-model as “an example of shared action for social change.” ⁷

Activities

The Florida Institute for Health Innovation organizes its activities into three separate categories, each containing its own initiatives. Its Collective Impact for Healthy Communities area provides training and technical assistance for community-based primary care, statewide “oral health equity,” community engagement strategies, and Obamacare.⁸

Its Research, Evaluation, and Training area includes a Transformational Leadership Forum centering on both “transformational change” and “health equity.” According to FIHI’s 2015 Annual Report, forums on equity and diversity were conducted by Dr. Joseph Betancourt, director of the Disparities Solutions Center and director of Multicultural Education for Massachusetts General Hospital.⁹

FIHI’s Health in All Policies area is heavily focused on climate change. Its research reports and related activities have provided an informational basis to connect healthcare and climate change. In 2013, FIHI worked with the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact to provide Health Impact Assessments for the Compact’s four-county, 110 recommendation Climate Change Action Plan.¹⁰ In 2016, FIHI issued a climate change report with the South Florida Regional Planning Council and Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Environmental Studies mapping areas potentially vulnerable to future sea-level rise, and included health care risks for low-income communities.¹¹

Climate Change

The Florida Institute for Health Innovation is actively involved in climate change programs, notably the Miami Climate Resilience Collaborative, or Resilient Miami.

Resilient Miami is an FIHI project in partnership with socially-oriented groups Catalyst Miami, Urban Impact Lab, and Urban Health Partnerships, and is funded by a three-year grant from the Kresge Foundation.¹² Resilient Miami is intended to raise climate change awareness in Southeast Florida low-income communities and develop strategic initiatives for social and economic policy changes.¹³

In September 2016, the Miami-Dade County Commission favorably recommended a resolution supporting the Resilient Miami project, which further directs the county mayor to collaborate with Catalyst Miami, the Urban Impact Lab, and the Florida Institute for Health Innovation “to further the goals and ideas of Resilient Miami.” The resolution begins by claiming that Miami-Dade County is one of “the most climate-vulnerable areas on the planet,” and acknowledges that the Kresge Foundation’s initiative seeks to strengthen the capacity of community-based nonprofit organizations to influence local and regional climate policy. Final approval is pending as of August 2017, due to disagreements over which local communities should benefit from the grant proceeds. ¹⁴

The Miami-Dade County government, overseeing 2.7 million residents, has an Office of Resilience and employs a Chief Resilience Officer.¹⁵ The Office works with government agencies, nonprofits, and businesses to integrate climate resilience programs and policies. It also leads Miami-Dade County’s participation in the 100 Resilient Cities Project, an urban engineering program sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation.¹⁶

Financials

According to its 2021 990 form, during 2021 fiscal year the Florida Institute for Health Innovation’s total revenue was reported at $194,612, expenses at $187,247, and assets at $0. Its reported contributions in 2021 were reported at $122,643. ¹⁷

Leadership

Dr. Jospeh West is the CEO of the Institute as of September 2023. Prior to joining, Dr. West served as an Advisory Board Member for LLC Complete Care Management Partners (2021), a Board Member for Michael Reese Health Trust (2014 to 2020) and was on the Advisory Board for the United Way of Metro Chicago (2010 to 2013). ¹⁸

1. “About FIHI.” Florida Institute for Health Innovation. Accessed August 8, 2017. http://flhealthinnovation.org/about-us/fihi-history/
2. “Florida Institute for Health Innovation.” Network Engagement Directory, National Network of Public Health Institutes. Accessed August, 7, 2017. https://nnphi.org/member/florida-institute-for-health-innovation/
3. “About the National Network of Public Health Institutes.” National Network of Public Health Institutes. Accessed August 7, 2017. https://nnphi.org/about-nnphi/
4. “About FIHI.” Florida Institute for Health Innovation. Accessed August 8, 2017. http://flhealthinnovation.org/about-us/fihi-history/
5. “Affordable Care Act.” Congresswoman Frederica Wilson. July 23, 2014. Accessed August 15, 2017. https://wilson.house.gov/affordable-care-act
6. “The Influence of Financial Health on Population.” Florida Institute for Health Innovation. September 20, 2016. Accessed August 15, 2017. http://flhealthinnovation.org/financial-health/
7. “FIHI Statement on the Orlando Shooting.” Florida Institute for Health Innovation. June 17, 2016. Accessed August 15, 2017. http://flhealthinnovation.org/fihi-statement-orlando-shooting/
8. “Innovation to Impact Annual Report.” Florida Institute for Health Innovation. 2014-2015. Accessed August 13, 2017. http://flhealthinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/FIHI-Annual-Report-2014-15.pdf
9. “Joseph r. Betancourt, MD.” The Disparities Solutions Center. February 2, 2017. Accessed August 17, 2017. https://mghdisparitiessolutions.org/joseph-r-betancourt-md-mph/
10. “Florida Institute for Health Innovation.” Climate Adaption Knowledge Exchange. Accessed August 16, 2017. http://www.cakex.org/directory/organizations/florida-institute-health-innovation-fihi
11. Mack, Sammy. “Florida Researchers: Sea-Level Rise is also a Health Threat for Surprising Populations.” WLRN. July 11, 2016. Accessed August 20, 2017. http://wlrn.org/post/florida-researchers-sea-level-rise-also-health-threat-surprising-populations
12. “Foundation Overview.” The Kresge Foundation. August 8, 2017. Accessed August 20, 2017. http://kresge.org/sites/default/files/library/kresge-foundation-brochure-8-8-17.pdf.
13. “Miami Climate Resilient Collaborative.” Florida Institute for Health Innovation. Accessed August 16, 2017. http://flhealthinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/MiamiClimateResilienceCollaborative1-pager.pdf
14. “Resolution 161672.” Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners. September 7, 2016. Accessed August 17, 2017. http://www.miamidade.gov/govaction/matter.asp?matter=161672&file=true&yearFolder=Y2016
15. “Resilience.” Regulatory and Economic Resources, Miami Dade County. Accessed August 15, 2017. http://www.miamidade.gov/planning/resilience.asp
16. “About Us.” 100 Resilient Cities. Accessed August 15, 2017. http://www.100resilientcities.org/about-us/
17. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Florida Public Health Institute, Inc. 2021. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/300051514/202311509349301206/full
18. “Jospeh F. West.” LinkedIn, Accessed September 25, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-f-west-scd-41b946