Dear Friends:
Welcome to our new Web site! As you explore the site, you will see that a primary goal has been to show how our rich 55-year history of grantmaking has led to our current mission and operating model. “Seeding Innovations in Health” is not new, but rather a fresh interpretation grounded in the insight and actions of all those before us.
Some increasingly known facts have influenced our direction: The United States spends more money on healthcare than most other developed nations, yet we are not getting more for our money. In fact, we lag far behind many of these countries with regard to important health-related outcomes, such as infant mortality, life expectancy and deaths from cancer and heart disease. In addition, the number of uninsured continues to rise. Doctors are increasingly unsatisfied in their profession. And our behaviors are leading to growing health risks. Importantly, most of our health and healthcare-related activities take place outside of the formal healthcare system.
In addition, while studying the important health-reform efforts now under way, a few things became clear: We are not always asking the right questions. We are generally not discussing the core issues that have led to our current problems. And we are not coming up with solutions that promise long-term systemic change and improved population health. Asking the right questions is critical to finding the right answers.
More than 40 years ago, our first president, Julius A. Rippel, saw the early signs of a broken system. At that time, he called for “new ways of thinking” about health and healthcare, pointing to such areas as alternative medicine, system design, medical education, workforce structure, and keeping people well. Following Julius A.’s lead, the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation is well-positioned to help stimulate new ways of thinking by identifying and working with leaders, ideas and innovations that have the potential to make a real difference.
Our approach will rely on a combination of direct charitable activities, grants, contracts and events that foster new conversations and lead to constructive change. Among our core activities will be to convene experts from a variety of fields to tap the best thinking around complex issues and then harness their ideas and energy for action. To understand our approach, a specific example may be helpful:
Over the last 30 years, the U.S. has changed how we think about, and use, energy. “Going Green” has become a financial and social imperative. While there remains much to do, we are seeing change all around us. Clearly, something new is happening! What if we could better understand these changes and the processes behind them so that we could apply similar approaches to reforms in health?
Bringing together a select group of leaders in energy reform, health reform, and system design, the Rippel Foundation has seeded a rich new conversation about health reform. Working now to frame a new health mandate, the group is being funded to write articles, conduct market studies, initiate research, and sponsor a conference to facilitate new thinking in the discussion of healthcare. <Click here> to learn more about this project.
With our commitment to “Seeding Innovations in Health,” the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation is on a challenging and timely journey. Given our goals, we are continuously seeking better ways to engage interested people and affect change. We welcome your ideas and thoughts on improving health, the U.S. healthcare system, and the work of our Foundation. <To contact us>
All the best,
 |
 |
|
| John Campbell | Laura Landy | |
| Chairman | President & CEO |