Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Receives $1.7 Million Investment from UnitedHealthcare to Support Essential Community Programs

Funding will help ensure community access to critical resources and support

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 10, 2025 — Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) today announced a $1.7 million investment from UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Pennsylvania to expand community efforts that address health-related medical and social needs in the Philadelphia region. The funding will support initiatives within CHOP’s Center for Health Equity, Office of Community Impact and the Center for Violence Prevention.

“This investment will help expand crucial programs that directly benefit the health and well-being of local children and families to ensure they have access to resources and support so they, and our community, can thrive,” said Tyra Bryant-Stephens, MD, Medical Director of the Community Asthma Prevention Program and Chief Health Equity Officer of the Center for Health Equity at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“It’s a privilege to collaborate with CHOP to help our local communities gain access to vital programs and services in Philadelphia that empower children and families to live healthier lives,” said Blair Boroch, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Pennsylvania. “CHOP’s initiatives not only provide essential support for children with asthma—improving their health outcomes and quality of life—but also address the broader social factors that influence well-being, such as access to safe housing, nutritious food, and stable employment opportunities. By focusing on these social drivers of health alongside medical care, we can make a meaningful difference.”

The investment will expand capacity for the following CHOP initiatives:

• CHOP’s Community Asthma Prevention Program — offers free education and support to Philadelphia children with asthma and their caregivers, aiming to improve asthma-related outcomes and reduce emergency department visits and hospital stays. The program includes asthma-prevention home visits, physician education in CHOP Care Network primary care centers and school-based programs.
• CAPP+ Home Repairs Program — addresses structural housing issues that trigger asthma by partnering with home repair agencies to remediate mold, pest residue, plumbing leaks and other hazards. CAPP+ typically invests an average of $25,000 per home to create healthier living environments.
• CHOP’s Mobile Food Market — a weekly mobile food truck delivering produce, protein and milk to families in Cobbs Creek, a known food desert in Philadelphia.
• CHOP’s youth summer employment program — provides teens job-readiness training, foundational financial skills and safe engagement over the summer months.
• CHOP’s Firearm Safety Initiative — integrates firearm safety counseling and distribution of gun-locking devices into clinical care to address mental health and community violence.
• Security deposits for at least 100 housing-insecure families to help stabilize housing and reduce the risk of homelessness in West Philadelphia.

About Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

A non-profit charitable organization founded in 1855 as the nation’s first pediatric hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is committed to exceptional patient care, training pediatric health professionals and pioneering research. CHOP’s pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. The CHOP Care Network includes more than 50 primary care practices, specialty and surgical centers, urgent care centers and community hospital alliances across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. CHOP also operates the Middleman Family Pavilion and pediatric emergency department in King of Prussia, the Behavioral Health and Crisis Center (including a 24/7 Crisis Response Center) and the Center for Advanced Behavioral Healthcare. For more information, visit www.chop.edu.

Contact:
Joey McCool Ryan
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
(267) 258-6735
[email protected]

SOURCE: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia