The Bravewell Collaborative Leaves a Legacy of Transforming Healthcare

NEW YORK, June 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the nation's most innovative and highly influential philanthropic health foundations, The Bravewell Collaborative, will sunset its operations in June 2015. Since its founding in 2002, Bravewell has sought to shift the focus of our healthcare system to prevention, health maintenance, early intervention and patient-centered care.

The Bravewell Collaborative was formed when a group of like-minded philanthropists met to discuss how they could accelerate the adoption of integrative medicine. Believing they could accomplish more together than by working alone, they identified key leverage points where philanthropy could make a difference for the integrative movement. Central to its vision was the idea that integrative medicine has the power to transform economic models that impede our present system and to greatly improve public health—a concept that is now central to discussions of healthcare's future.

Over its 14-year existence, Bravewell members invested nearly $30 million in pursuit of this vision. With additional investments by collaborating partners, these like-minded philanthropists worked together to accelerate the adoption of integrative medicine. 

Among Bravewell's lasting contributions is "The New Medicine," an award-winning series on integrative medicine that aired on PBS. Early on, Bravewell funded the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health, a group of respected medical schools developing clinical centers to deliver integrative care, helping the Consortium grow from 8 to 56 medical schools and health systems.  

As part of its sunsetting process, Bravewell underwrote two legacy projects that will continue to help transform healthcare after it has closed its doors. Bravewell funded the establishment of a national database of uniformly collected patient-reported outcomes and provider observations, PRIMIER (Patients Receiving Integrative Medicine Interventions Effectiveness Registry). Bravewell awarded a grant to Duke Integrative Medicine to create The Leadership Program in Integrative Healthcare. In assessing the future of healthcare, Bravewell recognized that the nation needed a host of integrative healthcare leaders to change and inspire excellence.

While Bravewell will conclude operations, its website, www.bravewell.org, will live on until 2020 as a resource. A book about The Bravewell Collaborative will be released in 2016.

About The Bravewell Collaborative
Formed in 2002, The Bravewell Collaborative is a community of philanthropists in the United States dedicated to bringing about optimal health and healing for individuals and society. For more information, please visit www.bravewell.org.

SOURCE The Bravewell Collaborative

Related Links

http://www.bravewell.org