More than two years of extensive research and conversations with community partners have led us to reimagine our presence in downtown St. Paul as a community hub focused on the many social, economic, and medical factors that affect a person’s overall health and wellness.

For generations, measurable community health disparities for those living in and around St. Paul’s most racially diverse neighborhoods have increased. Where you live shouldn’t determine how long you live, but it does. In many neighborhoods surrounding downtown St. Paul, your projected life span can be up to 13-years less compared with neighborhoods three miles to the west.

Research also shows that 80 percent of overall health is influenced by factors outside of hospital or clinical care — including education, job status, family and social support, and more. These factors are considered social determinants of health.

Our health system is an anchor institution in Minnesota. We are committed to playing a key role in reducing health inequalities and the impact of the social risk factors that produce poor health in our most diverse neighborhoods. The Fairview Community Health and Wellness Hub represents a bold, new approach to improve health and create health equity in a community by removing barriers to wellness and creating access that helps people support their own health.