Fairview Health Services Awarded The 2025 AHA Foster G. McGaw Prize

WASHINGTON (July 14, 2025) – The American Hospital Association (AHA) announced today that Fairview Health Services in Minnesota is the 2025 winner of the AHA’s Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service. Fairview is a Minneapolis-based nonprofit health system founded in 1853. Fairview provides exceptional care to patients and communities as one of the most comprehensive and geographically accessible systems in Minnesota, with 10 hospitals and medical centers and over 34,000 employees serving the greater Twin Cities metro area and north-central Minnesota.

The Foster G. McGaw Prize is sponsored by the Baxter Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Baxter International, and is administered by the AHA. The prize is given annually to a health care organization that has shown exceptional commitment to community health and developing innovative partnerships with community organizations to address societal factors influencing health and improving access to high quality safe health care for all. 

Fairview will be recognized at the AHA Leadership Summit in Nashville on July 21 and receive $100,000 toward programs that further the Prize’s goals.

“Each and every day, Fairview Health Services collaborates with a range of community partners to help Minnesotans reach their full health potential,” said Rick Pollack, AHA president and CEO. “From addressing food insecurity to providing free clinical services in community settings to helping neighbors navigate the health care system, Fairview’s community outreach programs serve as a national model to the hospital field.” 

“The Baxter Foundation congratulates Fairview Health Services for its outstanding commitment to delivering high-quality care to the Twin Cities community," said Verónica Arroyave, vice president, Corporate Responsibility & Global Philanthropy and executive director, Baxter Foundation. "We are honored to support Fairview’s efforts and continue our partnership with AHA to make a meaningful difference for patients and communities across the U.S."

"This recognition is a testament to Fairview’s deep roots in the community and the unwavering dedication of our entire system — all 34,000 people that make up Fairview — to advancing the health and well-being of the communities we serve,” said James Hereford, president and CEO of Fairview. “We are honored to be the 2025 Foster G. McGaw Prize recipient, and by the recognition of our commitment to ensuring that every patient, regardless of background or circumstance, has access to the care, resources, and opportunities they need to live a healthy life."  

Fairview’s strong initiatives include:

• The Minnesota Immunization Networking Initiative (MINI) — a multisector, collaborative created and led by Fairview and supported by more than 250 community partners — provides free clinical services and vaccinations in trusted settings. The program's success is due to strong and lasting partnerships with multiple faith-based and grassroots community organizations, along with local public health agencies. MINI clinics are held in community-based settings such as local churches, mosques, schools, community centers, food pantries, and homeless shelters.
• The East Side Health and Well-being Collaborative (ESHWBC) was formed in 2015 to address community-identified barriers to health and well-being. The collaborative is made up of nearly two dozen organizations, with Fairview serving as the convener and funder, and aims to achieve widespread wellbeing for all in the East Side of St. Paul.
• First launched in 2016 by Fairview as Veggie Rx, the Food is Medicine initiative uses the healing power of food to nourish patients and communities. Now known as Fair Table, the program is far reaching — from administering universal food insecurity screening in clinics and distributing locally sourced food to participating in broader community collaborations and engaging in policy solutions. Fairview is committed to improving health outcomes through addressing food access for their neighbors.
• Health Commons are drop-in health and wellness centers that Fairview began in 2011 and are dedicated to serving those in three underserved neighborhoods in the community. Services include drop-in hours where a nurse or doctor is available for one-on-one consultation; massage and aromatherapy; nurse-led or peer-led addiction counseling; healthy living classes on topics such as nutrition, exercise, chronic disease, and emotional health; and produce distribution, food boxes, and community gardens.
• Fairview developed the Cultural Brokers program in partnership with the ESHWBC to address the community’s identified need for responsive support. Cultural brokers are people who understand healing and health from their community’s perspective. They help bridge gaps by translating and supporting people as they navigate health care, schools, and other systems to ultimately build self-sufficiency.

2025 Finalists 

Three Foster G. McGaw Prize finalists are also recognized for their community health programs and will each receive $10,000. These finalists include:

• Inova Health in Northern Virginia for its:
  • Inova Juniper Program (IJP) —Virginia’s largest provider for HIV/AIDS health care and services.
  • Inova Cares — primary and specialty care safety net clinics located in communities of need and serving women, families, and children who have Medicaid coverage, are uninsured, or qualify for Inova charity care.
  • Partnership for Healthier Communities (PHC) — links uninsured children and adults with affordable insurance options.
  • Inova Forensic Consultation and Assessment Team (FACT) — Northern Virginia’s only provider of specialized forensic medical evaluation services for children and adults that have experienced domestic/intimate partner violence and child abuse.

  • Inova Medical House Calls (IMHC) — provides in-home primary care to indigent, homebound adults ages 65 and over.

     

• LifeBridge Health in Baltimore for its:

  • Center for Hope — A first-of-its-kind integrated program that works with perpetrators and victims of violence to break the cycle of violence and reduce its impact in communities throughout central Maryland.
  • Comprehensive Diabetes Programs — Strengthening wrap-around diabetes care by linking services across their health care facilities to systematically address challenges faced by community members with this complex disease. This has included providing healthy food delivery, virtual medication management, transportation to appointments, and longitudinal care coordination.
  • Care Happens Here Mobile Unit — Breaking down transportation, affordability, insurance, and other barriers to health care by bringing a mobile doctor’s office to their region’s underserved neighborhoods.
  • Access Carroll — Providing no-cost care to 16,000 residents in Caroll County and connecting them to a variety of medical and social resources.
  • Community Pastoral Outreach — Collaborating with dozens of churches, synagogues, and other faith-based groups to reach community members with health education and screening initiatives.

   

• Rush University System for Health in Chicago for its:
  • Rush Education and Career Hub program that provides academic enrichment, mentoring and internship opportunities that help local youth get and stay on health care career paths.
  • Rush Community Service Initiatives Program that empowers students, faculty, residents, fellows and staff to use their talents to make a difference in their community.
  • Nursing Faculty Practice in the College of Nursing that moves nursing-led health care services into the communities Rush serves.
  • Veteran and Family Outreach through the Road Home Program that provides free mental health care to thousands of military veterans and their families.
  • The Anchor Mission commitment channels the economic benefits of how Rush hires, purchases and invests to improve the economic vitality — and thus health — of the communities Rush serves.

About the Foster G. McGaw Prize
The Foster G. McGaw Prize recognizes health care organizations that are committed to community service through a range of programs that demonstrate a passion and continuous commitment to making communities healthier and more vital. The prize, first awarded in 1986, inspires hospitals, health systems and communities to assess and co-create programs that improve their communities. It is sponsored by the Baxter Foundation and administered by the American Hospital Association (AHA). For more information, visit www.aha.org/fostermcgaw. 

About the American Hospital Association
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA advocates on behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, our clinician partners — including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers — and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides insight and education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.

About the Baxter Foundation
Every day, Baxter and the Baxter Foundation strive to make a meaningful difference in the lives of people who depend on our products, and in the communities where our employees live and work. The Foundation helps advance Baxter’s mission to Save and Sustain Lives by partnering with organizations around the world to increase access to healthcare for the underserved, develop the next generation of innovators who will lead the way in advancing healthcare and to create a positive, long-lasting impact in communities globally. The Foster G. McGaw Prize is sponsored by the Baxter Foundation and administered by the American Hospital Association (AHA). For more information, please visit Baxter’s Corporate Responsibility page.