The Health Foundation was formally established in January, 1999, with initial assets of approximately $60 million. These assets resulted from the sale of Central Massachusetts Health Care, Inc. (CMHC) a physician-initiated, not-for-profit health maintenance organization (HMO). The trustees of CMHC envisioned a philanthropic organization dedicated to improving the health of the people in the region as a fitting legacy to those physicians who founded and then supported the original organization in 1977. 

The Central Massachusetts Health Care Board of Trustees

As a conversion foundation, The Health Foundation is bound to apply the assets to continue serving a similar purpose and population, or geographic area as the original HMO.

Since 2000, the Foundation has granted over $57 million to organizations in Central Massachusetts through its primary grantmaking avenues, which include the Synergy Initiative and the Activation Fund.

When it converted from CMHC, the Foundation intentionally sought to retain the plan’s tax-exempt status as a 501(c)4 organization in order to retain the capacity to lobby. The Foundation’s ability to lobby has been strategically woven into its grantmaking, most notably in the Synergy Initiative, where advocacy and lobbying are expected to secure sustainability of the projects. 

The Health Foundation Fund, Inc.
In 2000, The Health Foundation created The Health Foundation Fund as a 501(c)3 fundraising affiliate to support the purpose and mission of The Health Foundation through donations, memorial contributions and gifts of life insurance.