Foundation for Seacoast Health

Foundation for Seacoast Health

The Foundation for Seacoast Health was created in 1984 from the proceeds of the sale of Portsmouth Hospital to the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). The transaction established a permanent endowment for the foundation, which is legally bound to improve the health and well-being of residents in New Hampshire's Seacoast region. The foundation's relationship with HCA has been marked by long-term litigation concerning repurchase rights tied to the original sale agreement. Grants fund regional non-profits focused on health and community well-being, with the foundation operating as a place-based health legacy funder rather than a diversified institutional investor. Its investment portfolio, while undisclosed in detail, must support an annual grantmaking budget serving the Portsmouth area. The foundation has held direct real estate assets — in 2022, it sold the Community Campus at 100 Campus Drive to the City of Portsmouth, a transaction that returned a significant physical asset to municipal use. The foundation appointed Blair Demers as CEO in 2024, succeeding Debra S. Grabowski, who had served as chief executive since the foundation's earliest years. Stuart Levenson chairs the board, and Jeffrey R. Croteau serves as both a board member and investment advisor. The foundation participates in industry networks including Grantmakers In Health and the Council on Foundations. The foundation's structure is unusual among endowed health grantmakers — its origin is a hospital privatization, not a donor's bequest, and its ongoing legal relationship with HCA creates a layer of complexity uncommon among community foundations. That HCA relationship, combined with the direct ownership and strategic sale of real estate, gives the foundation an operating posture that blends legacy asset management with focused place-based philanthropy.