Sidebar: Time, Talent, and Treasure: Health Systems and the Anchor Mission Strategy for Advancing Health Equity

The past decade has seen increased emphasis on the importance of advancing health equity and addressing the social, political, and economic drivers of health inequities. Achieving health equity requires moving beyond health care to address the social and economic conditions and the political determinants of these conditions that drive health within communities [1]. Key to advancing equity is embracing an anchor mission strategy and forming partnerships between “anchor institutions” and local organizations to invest in the economic well-being of communities [2]. Anchor institutions are nonprofit or public entities such as hospitals and universities that have the ability to align and deploy their institutional resources—such as hiring, purchasing, and investing—with the needs of the local communities they serve [3].