Main Line Health and Jefferson Health are among the group of regional healthcare providers, insurers, and educational institutions that have joined forces with the City of Philadelphia to start Accelerate Health Equity, a multimillion-dollar initiative aiming to address health inequities, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The initiative – which uses the “Working Together for a Healthier Philadelphia” tagline — has the long-term goal of achieving measurable positive changes in health outcomes throughout the city.

The collaboration aims to address systemic racism and various other barriers in the hopes of achieving health equity. The plan is to develop and implement pilot programs that address health conditions and social determinants of health and track their impact.

Participating organizations also include Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Drexel University, Penn Medicine, and Temple University Health System, among others.

“Collaboration is key and a successful example of that is how we’ve all worked together throughout the pandemic with ongoing work to do,” said Jack Lynch, CEO of Main Line Health.”Racism is also a public health crisis, and if we’re going to truly address disparities of care, we have to come together to make it happen.”

Read more about Accelerate Health Equity in the Philadelphia Business Journal.