Reach Healthcare Foundation is a grantmaking organization which donates to health care groups in Kansas and Missouri. ¹ It specifically advocates for expanding Medicaid and other taxpayer-funded health services; greater investment in Black-led organizations and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs; access to health care for anyone looking to have an abortion or sex change; and an increase in data collection of medical records. ² It runs a diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) program in conjunction with the Community Health Commission of Missouri ³ and the Rapid Equity Fund with the Wyandotte Health Foundation. ⁴

History

The Reach Healthcare Foundation was founded in 2003 and was approved as a nonprofit in 2004. It was the result of the sale of Health Midwest, a collection of 12 nonprofit hospitals in the Midwest, to the Hospital Corporation of America for a total of $1.125 billion. ⁵ Reach Healthcare was founded from the proceeds, and as a result it held about $100 million in initial assets. ¹

Advocacy

Bridging the Health Gap Divide

Bridging the Health Gap Divide aims to increase funding for existing public health programs, eliminate eligibility restrictions to use those programs, and increase voter turnout. Reach Healthcare states the main purpose of this program is to provide options for people who make too little to qualify for affordable private health insurance but earn too much to qualify for KanCare, Kansas’s Medicaid program. Reach Foundation states that voter engagement is “fundamental to health democracy” and as such it supports expanding access to automatic voter registration, ballot drop boxes, and election day voter registration. ²

To address these issues, Reach Healthcare has donated to enrollment assistance programs such as the Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center, which received $50,000 from Reach in 2020. The Center works with immigrants and refugees in Kansas City, helping people who are new to the American health care system understand what health care assistance they qualify for and enrolling them in those programs. ⁶

Closing the Health Equity Gap

Closing the Health Equity Gap aims to “reduce significant health disparities that exist among rural, disabled, Black, and Hispanic Kansans.” ²  Reach Healthcare claims this can be done through increased investments in education, vaccinations, public health services, and diversity programs. Reach states that any individual, with or without health insurance, should be granted immediate access to abortions and sex-change surgeries when they want them and states that it opposes any legislation which would make that impossible. Reach also argues legislation should focus on diversity because it could bring businesses to Kansas that would pay for employees’ health care. ²

To meet these goals, Reach has invested in the Centering Black Voices Initiative. This program began in 2021 with $20,000 in unrestricted grants to six Black-led organizations. These organizations include the Food Equality Initiative, the Village Initiative, BlaqOut, Uzazi Village, KC Mothers In Charge, and Shirley’s Kitchen Cabinet. The Village Initiative helps recently released criminals transition back into normal life, helping these individuals find transitional housing, job training, and drug and alcohol addiction counseling. BlaqOut works to eliminate mistrust for the medical community among Black LGBT individuals. Shirley’s Kitchen Cabinet is an education and advocacy organization which teaches Black women how to advocate on public policy issues. ⁷

Strengthen the Safety Net

Strengthen the Safety Net advocates for “an effective and adequately funded public health safety net care system particularly for people with fewer financial resources.” ² It supports health care services and providers who accept Medicaid or people that are underserved. Reach Healthcare seeks increased funding for public health departments, community health centers, behavioral health centers, and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC). ⁸ In 2022, Reach Healthcare granted $1.5 million to 30 health care organizations to help meet these goals. ⁹

Programs

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Belonging Workshop

The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Belonging (DEIAB) Workshop was created to “provide practical strategies to strengthen organizational DEIAB identity […] and foster a healthier, more inclusive workplace culture.” The program is made up of five, 75-minute, in-person lectures done in conjunction with the Community Health Commission of Missouri. ³

Rapid Equity Fund

The Rapid Equity Fund is a grantmaking program, done in conjunction with the Wyandotte Health Foundation, which provides eligible nonprofits with an unrestricted $5,000 grant to support Black, brown, immigrant, refugee, and rural-serving partners. An organization only qualifies if it is a charitable nonprofit and its goals align with the goals of the Reach Health Foundation. ¹⁰

1. “Who We Are: Dedicated to Lasting Impact & Equity.” REACH Healthcare. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://reachhealth.org/about-reach/.
2. “2025 Kansas Policy Agenda.” Reachhealth.org, 2025. https://reachhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/REACH-Kansas-Policy-Agenda-2025.pdf.
3. “DEIAB Workshops.” REACH Healthcare. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://reachhealth.org/deiab-workshops/.
4.  “Reach Partners with Wyandotte Health Foundation to Launch Rapid Equity Grant.” REACH Healthcare, February 19, 2025. https://reachhealth.org/2025/02/19/reach-partners-with-wyandotte-health-foundation-to-launch-rapid-equity-grant/.
5. Cate, Molly. “HCA Closes Health Midwest Deal, Finally.” Nashville Post, April 1, 2003. https://www.nashvillepost.com/hca-closes-health-midwest-deal-finally/article_d771811a-6dbb-582e-9d40-e59506b49388.html
6. “Reach Awards Grants for Enrollment Assistance.” REACH Healthcare, September 25, 2020. https://reachhealth.org/2020/09/25/reach-awards-grants-for-enrollment-assistance/.
7. “Reach Announces New Initiative Highlighting Black-Led Organizations.” REACH Healthcare, February 11, 2021. https://reachhealth.org/2021/02/11/reach-announces-new-initiative-highlighting-black-led-organizations/.
8.  “2025 Kansas Policy Agenda.” Reachhealth.org, 2025. https://reachhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/REACH-Kansas-Policy-Agenda-2025.pdfI
9. “Reach Awards Core Partner Grants Totaling $1.5 Million.” REACH Healthcare, November 16, 2021. https://reachhealth.org/2021/11/16/reach-awards-core-partner-grants/.
10. “Rapid Equity Fund.” REACH Healthcare. Accessed April 14, 2025. https://reachhealth.org/rapid-equity-fund/.