# The REACH Healthcare Foundation

The REACH Healthcare Foundation is an Endowment / Foundation based in Overland Park, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Overland Park, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Overland Park, KS, United States
- **Founded:** 2003
- **Assets under management:** ~$150M (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** reachhealth.org
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reach-healthcare-foundation

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The REACH Healthcare Foundation formed in 2003 from the sale of Health Midwest, a Kansas City-area nonprofit hospital system, to HCA. The transaction endowed two parallel foundations: REACH and the Health Forward Foundation. Brenda Sharpe assumed the presidency in 2004 and has shaped a grantmaking strategy focused on health coverage, access, and equity for uninsured and medically underserved populations in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The foundation deploys capital through direct grants to community organizations, healthcare providers, and equity-focused initiatives. Its strategy spans early-stage and expansion-stage nonprofit projects, with an emphasis on addressing systemic barriers to care. The foundation co-invests alongside aligned partners; the Rapid Equity Fund initiative, developed with the Wyandotte Health Foundation, demonstrates a preference for collaborative, place-based deployment. The portfolio includes ownership of commercial real estate at 82nd Street and Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park, generating income that supports its charitable mission. The foundation also maintains common trust funds for its endowed assets. REACH operates with a lean governance structure that intersects with local institutional investment management. Multiple board members, including Andy Klocke and Curtis Krizek, hold Managing Director roles at Prairie Capital Management, a firm that advises on the foundation's invested assets. The foundation participates actively in grantmaking associations — Council on Foundations, Grantmakers In Health, PEAK Grantmaking, and Philanthropy Southeast — reflecting a deliberate institutional commitment to operational rigor in its philanthropic deployment. Structurally, REACH is a conversion foundation — an uncommon model in which a philanthropic endowment inherits the geographic and programmatic obligations of a former nonprofit asset. Its mandate is not merely to preserve capital but to direct it back into the same communities that lost a nonprofit healthcare provider, a constraint that binds its investment and grantmaking decisions to a specific regional footprint.

## Sectors

- Healthcare Services

## People

- Brenda Sharpe — President and CEO

## Questions

### How did The REACH Healthcare Foundation originate?

The foundation was established in 2003 with proceeds from the sale of Health Midwest, a nonprofit hospital system serving the Kansas City area, to HCA. The transaction created two sister foundations, REACH and Health Forward Foundation, each with an endowment obligation to serve the region's health needs.

### Does REACH make direct investments or only grants?

REACH primarily deploys capital as charitable grants to community organizations and healthcare providers. It also holds income-producing commercial real estate, including a property at 82nd Street and Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park. The foundation does not operate as a for-profit venture investor, though it co-invests in collaborative funding vehicles like the Rapid Equity Fund with the Wyandotte Health Foundation.

### How is REACH different from the Health Forward Foundation?

Both foundations were created from the same 2003 Health Midwest sale but operate independently with separate boards and grantmaking priorities. Health Forward Foundation serves a similar geographic region, but the two are distinct legal entities, each with its own endowment and strategic focus on regional health equity.

## Related profiles

- [Monmouth University](https://altss.com/profile/monmouth-university)
- [Alma College](https://altss.com/profile/alma-college)

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Last updated: 2026-06-28T22:09:19.234Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/the-reach-healthcare-foundation

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