The New York State Health Foundation (NYSHealth) is a private, statewide foundation dedicated to improving the health of all New Yorkers. They strive to be focused and purposeful in their work; establish and adhere to clear goals and strategies; and measure their progress. They are committed to making grants, but also to making a difference beyond their dollars: informing health care policy and practice, spreading effective programs to improve the health system, serving as a convener of health leaders across the State, and providing technical assistance to their grantees and partners.

Priority Areas

NYSHealth concentrates its initiatives in two strategic priority areas:

Building Healthy Communities 

To help communities become healthier, more active places, the Foundation is supporting initiatives across the State to help more New Yorkers of all ages eat healthy foods, become physically active, and have access to a range of programs that encourage healthy life choices. 

Empowering Health Care Consumers 

New Yorkers find the health care system incredibly complex to understand and navigate. To ensure that consumers have the tools, resources, and support they need to make informed decisions about their health care, the Foundation is committed to increasing consumers’ choice, control, and convenience. 

Other Focus Areas

Veterans' Health

The NYSHealth Initiative for Returning Veterans and Their Families seeks to underscore that the health care, mental health, and social services issues returning veterans and their families face are not solely military issues, but public and community health issues that should be addressed by local and national government agencies, community-based organizations, and health funders.

Special Projects Fund

Grants through their Special Projects Fund allow them to support projects that address an important health care or public health issue in the State, but are outside of their targeted priority areas. Eligible projects are coordinated interventions that take place over a specified period of time to achieve quantifiable results.