Enterprising Health in Flint
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See also: EnterprisingHealth.org
A new BoP Protocol implementation is being initiated this spring (2008) that seeks to innovate and develop new grassroots enterprises focused on improving the health and/or health care of Flint and Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. By working with community resources, local partners, and poor and vulnerable families and individuals, this multi-year project will follow the BoP Protocol's participatory business innovation process to co-create and implement sustainable, community entrepreneur-led businesses.
The Protocol calls for a small team of specially trained individuals from inside and outside the Flint area to immerse themselves in the underserved community. The team lives and works side by side with members of the community for a time, to learn first-hand their situation, build trust, co-identify unmet health needs, and co-develop methods by which to meet those needs in a sustainable way. Experience with the Protocol indicates that through a deep process of relationship building, workshops and partnerships 1) community entrepreneurs and interested businesses/agencies will emerge as partners and 2) health-related opportunities and potential sustainable “business models” will be identified.
Fundamental to the process is that it is not enough to “identify” issues and opportunities; the community and project partners must act on the opportunities in a sustainable way by creating, testing, and evolving community entrepreneur-led enterprises.
Project time frame
The initiative will be formally launched at a workshop on Wednesday, April 30, and will continue with the focused team beginning detailed work in the community in mid June. The planned high level time-line for the initiative is as follows:
| March/April: | Initial community introduction with kick-off and workshop on 4/30 |
| May/mid-June: | Continuing relationship development and understanding current resources and capabilities |
| Mid-June/Sept: | Team immersion in the Flint community; living and working with individuals and groups to understand challenges and opportunities |
| Aug/Sept: | Surface interested entrepreneurs and businesses/agencies, conduct workshops to co-create health-related “business” ideas |
| Oct/June ’09: | Pilot and test elements of the models to confirm the viability of the business(es) |
| 2009/2010: | Monitor and nurture the business(es); consider expansions/evolutions of the business(es) |
Project partners
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The initiative will draw in additional partners to take part in and benefit from implementing the BoP Protocol in Flint, however project partners currently include the following:
- Ascension Health - St. Louis, MO
- Cornell University - Ithaca, NY
- Enterprise for a Sustainable World - Ithaca, NY
- Genesys Health - Flint, MI
- Health Access - Flint, MI
- University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, MI
Ascension Health and Genesys Health are the catalysts for the initiative, which is core to both organizations’ mission to improve the health of the communities they serve with particular attention to those who are poor & vulnerable. There is no expectation that the resulting models will favor Genesys over any other healthcare providers in the Flint community. Ascension Health is expecting to take process learnings and business models to other communities they serve.
The initiative will be led by Marcy Buren, the current Director of Health Access who will be leaving that position to take on this role, and will be guided in the field by Patrick Donohue of Enterprise for a Sustainable World, as well as Michael Gordon and Stuart Hart of the University of Michigan and Cornell University, respectively.