Health Funding for Parks and Greenspace: An Innovative Community Investment Strategy
Citation
Takenaka, B. P., Seerha, H., Frumkin, H., & Tandon, P. S. (2025). Health Funding for Parks and Greenspace: An Innovative Community Investment Strategy. INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, 62, 469580251404376. doi.org/10.1177/00469580251404376
Parks and green spaces are known to improve physical health, mental well-being, and social connections. Because nonprofit hospitals are required to conduct Community Health Needs Assessments and invest in factors that influence health, they could be an ally in supporting better access to high-quality parks.
This study looked at Community Health Needs Assessments from 51 large nonprofit hospitals in U.S. cities with relatively poor access to parks. It also included interviews and focus groups with 29 hospital staff, park agencies, and community organizations. Mental health, access to care, and chronic disease were the most frequently identified community priorities. While more than half of the Assessments mentioned parks or green spaces, many did so only briefly. The limited focus on parks was usually not because hospitals disagreed with their importance, but because of challenges such as lack of staff expertise, limited time and resources, and many competing demands.
Conversations with hospital, park, and community leaders highlighted several key points:
- Community voices were often included in health assessments, but lacked resources and coordination to address built environment needs;
- Parks were widely seen as important for mental health and social connection, yet many communities face barriers such as unsafe conditions, unequal access, and underinvestment;
- Partnerships between hospitals, park agencies, and community groups already exist and show promise, but they are often stretched thin; and
- Long histories of racism have shaped who has access to quality parks and parks investments.
Overall, the findings point to a missed opportunity. Nonprofit hospitals could do more to include parks and green spaces in their community health planning, work more closely with park agencies, and invest in improving local parks. These actions could address root causes of poor health, help reduce health inequities, and support healthier, more connected communities.
The paper concludes with recommendations for hospitals, park agencies, and community organizations to collaborate in advancing park equity and health equity.
Abstract
Parks and greenspaces provide well-documented benefits for physical, mental, and social health. Nonprofit hospitals, required to conduct Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) and invest in social determinants of health, could therefore advance health and health equity by supporting park access and quality. We reviewed CHNAs from 51 large nonprofit hospitals in U.S. cities ranking in the lower half of the 2024 Trust for Public Land ParkScore Index. We analyzed how parks and greenspaces were addressed in CHNAs and conducted interviews and focus groups with 29 representatives from hospitals, park agencies, and community organizations. Mental health, access to care, and chronic disease were the most frequently identified community priorities in CHNAs. Although 56.9% of CHNAs included data on greenspaces and 54.9% identified parks as a community need, many CHNAs gave limited attention to parks – largely due to limited familiarity, capacity constraints, and competing priorities rather than opposition. Qualitative findings revealed 4 key themes: (1) CHNAs often included community input but lacked resources and coordination to address built environment needs; (2) parks were widely recognized as vital to mental health and social connection but constrained by inequitable access, safety concerns, and underinvestment; (3) existing collaborations between hospitals, parks, and community groups demonstrated promise yet faced capacity barriers; and (4) historical and ongoing structural racism shaped inequities in park access and investment. Our findings reveal an under tapped opportunity for hospitals to integrate parks and greenspaces into CHNAs, strengthen partnerships with park agencies, and direct community benefit investments toward parks to improve community health outcomes. Doing so could help align hospital community benefit spending with upstream drivers of health. We conclude with recommendations for hospitals, park agencies, and community organizations to collaborate in advancing park equity and health equity.