Cultivating Successful Partnerships Between Academic and Community Healthcare
Olivia Hairfield
Published: 09/25/2024
Increasingly, community healthcare systems are partnering with academic medical centers, medical schools, and residency programs. Additionally, educational institutions are expanding deeper into communities, often through acquisitions. While these collaborations open doors for improved patient care, innovative projects, and robust fundraising initiatives, they also may bring challenges to development teams that require careful navigation.
Academic and community systems often operate under different historical and organizational frameworks. Their fundraising priorities can differ significantly, requiring a tailored approach to align goals and resources. As partnerships grow, it becomes essential to reconcile these differences to create a cohesive strategy.
A recent panel discussion featuring Crystal Hinson Miller, president of IU Health Foundation and senior vice president/chief philanthropy officer of Indiana University Health, Christopher O’Connor, chief development officer of MassGeneral Brigham, and Colleen Sherman, senior associate director, corporate and foundation relations at Michigan Medicine, shed light on best practices to navigate the complexities when academic and community healthcare systems unite and two philanthropy teams become one. This panel of experts, moderated by AHP’s President and Chief Executive Officer Alice Ayres, shared several key strategies for developing and sustaining these relationships.
Building a Successful Partnership: Key Strategies
1. Start Early and Secure Buy-In from Leadership.
The panel emphasized the need to start planning early and ensure your organization’s executive staff is onboard. When academic and community institutions merge, aligning leadership teams is critical to ensure the partnership's success. Early integration allows both sides plenty of time to address concerns and work toward shared strategic priorities.
2. Foster a Team-Oriented Culture.
Establish that staff from all sides are now one team that works together. Building a team-oriented culture across organizations helps foster a sense of belonging and shared purpose. According to the panel, making every stakeholder feel united is essential, especially during the early stages of partnership development. Christopher suggested forming a Chief Development Council, where Chief Development Officers from all sides can meet regularly to discuss fundraising initiatives and other key priorities.
3. Focus on Donor Intent and Shared Projects.
As the panel noted, donor intent plays a central role in partnership development. When academic and community healthcare organizations collaborate on fundraising efforts, they must respect and prioritize donors' wishes. By agreeing to fundraise for similar projects or along the same lines, institutions can pool resources while ensuring donors feel their contributions are used appropriately.
4. Stay Flexible and Embrace New Roles.
As roles shift during mergers or partnerships, staff members may worry about duplicating efforts or losing their positions. However, the panelists stressed the importance of flexibility. Rather than seeing these changes as a threat, staff should recognize the potential for new roles and opportunities to emerge. This adaptability can drive greater innovation and success in the long term.
The Power of Partnerships: Overcoming Challenges
While the benefits of merging academic and community healthcare organizations are significant, the panel acknowledged that challenges are inevitable. Territorial fears about funding and competition for donors are common. However, by prioritizing early integration, promoting teamwork, and focusing on donor intent, healthcare organizations can navigate these obstacles effectively.
One key takeaway from the discussion was the importance of addressing these challenges head-on. Panelists recommended spending extra time working through territorial concerns and ensuring all stakeholders feel heard and valued. By creating structured relationships, such as with memorandums of understanding (MOUs), organizations can define clear rules of engagement and work collaboratively to achieve common goals.
A Path Forward for Together
The blending of academic and community healthcare systems is a trend that is likely to continue. As the panelists noted, the power of these organizations coming together lies in their ability to solve complex problems and innovate in ways that neither could do alone. With the right approach, these partnerships can thrive, creating lasting impacts on healthcare delivery and philanthropy.