The Mount Sinai Health Care Foundation

The Mount Sinai Health Care Foundation

The Mount Sinai Health Care Foundation was established in 1996 from the proceeds of the sale of Mount Sinai Hospital, a storied Cleveland institution. Long-time President Mitchell Balk guides its dual mandate: improving the health of Greater Cleveland through grants and policy work, while running an investment program that includes direct venture exposure. Strategy spans philanthropy and venture capital. The foundation's grantmaking focuses on equitable health outcomes, the health of the Jewish community, academic medicine, and health policy. On the investment side, it operates the Mount Sinai Health Care Foundation Bioscience Fund, making direct venture investments. Its deal activity concentrates on the Greater Cleveland area but extends nationally through bioscience commitments. The fund targets early-stage health and bioscience companies. The foundation is headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio, and is closely tied to Cleveland's Jewish philanthropic ecosystem. It is a member of the Jewish Funders Network and Philanthropy Ohio, and collaborates frequently with the Jewish Federation of Cleveland on community health initiatives. Its board has included prominent local leaders such as Beth Wain Brandon and the late Victor Gelb, a past board chair instrumental in the foundation's creation. The foundation's structure is unusual for a health conversion foundation: it pairs traditional endowment-style grantmaking with a named, in-house venture capital fund. This hybrid approach lets it pursue its mission through both charitable distributions and equity investments in the bioscience firms that shape future health outcomes in its home region.