In February, the insurer entered into a 10-year partnership with Events DC, Washington, D.C’s convention and sports authority, to invest in communities east of the city’s Anacostia River.
As part of the partnership, CareFirst picked up naming rights to the former Entertainment and Sports Arena, which hosts the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and the Capital City Go-Go, an NBA G-League Team.
The partnership is about much more than “signs and seats,” Mr. Pieninck told Becker’s. Blue Cross Blue Shield is one of the most recognized brands in the country, he said.
“What we’re trying to do is build on the understanding of what that brand means, what people can expect from that brand, how we are going to show up differently, and better, frankly, than other participants in the healthcare and business communities,” he said. “They can expect from us a level of consistency and follow-through that is consistent with our business presence for nearly a century.”
CareFirst is dually-headquartered in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. The company has more than 3.5 million members, including nearly 500,000 in D.C.
In Ward 7 and Ward 8 of the district, the neighborhoods where the investment is focused, there are few full-service grocery stores, Mr. Pieninck said.
CareFirst will provide $2 million in funding to support local organizations in the city’s 7th and 8th wards targeting workforce development, maternal health and food insecurity. The goal is to leverage its presence as a healthcare company and a business to improve density and access to resources, Mr. Pieninck said.
“It’s about being present in the community, having a physical presence that can be leveraged,” he said. “That helps to attract other businesses, other services, that begin to support a different, better trajectory for Wards 7 and 8.”
At the end of the decade-long partnership, Mr. Pieninck hopes to see measurable increases in access to healthy food, improving economic mobility and improved health outcomes, he said.
CareFirst has several other community and health equity initiatives. The West Baltimore Workforce Development program provides job opportunities at CareSource in sales, community health and more. The company also partnered with Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office and the Greater Washington Community Foundation to launch a $95 million health equity fund.
Investments in community health and health equity aren’t just the right thing to do, Mr. Pieninck said, but the smart thing to do.
“We need our partners in healthcare, hospital systems, doctors offices, to have a broader and shared perspective of what it looks like to make smart investments in healthcare,” he said. “I view these [investments] as inextricably linked with our mission and values as I do our vision and strategy and our operating plan as a company.”