New Report Reveals How Hospitals Can Boost Community Health with Park Investments 

SEATTLE, WA – March 3, 2026 – Hospitals have the opportunity to invest in parks and greenspaces as critical health infrastructure, according to Health Funding for Parks and Greenspace, a new report released today by Trust for Public Land (TPL).  

The report is based on a study originally published by TPL’s Director of Health and a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine, Dr. Pooja Tandon along with former TPL Land and People Lab Director, Dr. Howard Frumkin, in INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision and Financing that examines how parks and greenspaces are currently considered in hospital Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) and opportunities for hospitals, park agencies, and community organizations to collaborate in advancing community health and health equity through parks. 

“Parks and greenspaces promote physical, mental, and social health, but park departments very often struggle to secure sufficient funding,” said Dr. Pooja Sarin Tandon, Health Director at Trust for Public Land. “Our research finds that though nonprofit hospitals are required to invest in community health, they typically do not consider parks as part of these efforts. This disconnection highlights a promising opportunity for hospitals to begin doing so and make a greater impact towards community health by helping to fund parks and other public outdoor spaces.” 

The report explores how hospitals can use community benefit funds to invest in parks and greenspaces. Drawing on examples from across the U.S., the findings show that this approach is feasible and offers hospitals a new way to invest upstream in health, while providing park agencies and health advocates a source of funding. 

“Integrating greenspaces into CHNAs and allocating community benefit funds accordingly can shift the healthcare system toward prevention, address structural inequities, and produce measurable gains in community health,” continued Dr. Tandon. “These investments are not only feasible, but evidence-based and proven, and most critically aligned with the health priorities that CHNAs most commonly identify.”

Success stories suggest that hospital investment in parks and greenspace is indeed feasible. Examples include Boston Medical Center’s rooftop farm, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s initiatives to support green community schoolyards, Tampa General Hospital’s Walk with a Doc program, and Memorial Hermann Health System’s investments in Houston parks. 

Key findings from the report include: 

1. Parks are widely recognized as valuable for health. Stakeholders across hospitals, parks, and community organizations described parks and greenspaces as critical resources for physical activity, mental health, social connection, and community well-being, all public health priorities. This became particularly evident during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. 
2. Parks are inconsistently addressed in CHNAs. Just over half of CHNAs included any data on parks or greenspaces, and even fewer elevated parks as a community health priority. CHNAs that considered parks typically focused on simple measures of access rather than quality, safety, programming, equity, or funding. These omissions limit hospitals’ ability to identify meaningful investment opportunities. 
3. Limited attention reflects capacity constraints, not opposition. Hospital staff cited time limitations, competing priorities, limited familiarity with park data, and funding constraints as key barriers to the idea of parks as a health strategy. Some hospital representatives were not aware that Schedule H allows park investment as a qualifying community benefit activity. This knowledge gap limits hospital action. 
4. Equity concerns are central. Participants emphasized persistent inequities in park access, quality, safety, and programming, shaped by historical and ongoing discrimination. Hospitals that do not account for these inequities risk reinforcing them through their investment decisions. 
5. Examples of successful collaboration exist. Several cities demonstrated promising cross-sector collaborations such as community gardens, green schoolyards, youth sports complexes, and health programs in parks. Even modest improvements such as lighting, benches, tree canopy expansion, trail connections, and community programming can produce meaningful health benefits. Most collaborations formed informally rather than through structured processes, which made them difficult to sustain or scale. 

Further takeaways from Health Funding for Parks and Greenspace and recommendations can be found on here: https://www.tpl.org/resource/health-dollars-for-parks-and-greenspace 

 ### 

About Health Funding for Parks and Greenspace 

Trust for Public Land conducted a study to examine how parks and greenspace are currently addressed in hospital Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) and to explore opportunities for hospitals, park agencies, and community organizations to collaborate in advancing community health and health equity through parks.

The research team reviewed CHNAs from 51 large nonprofit hospitals located in U.S. cities ranking in the lower half of the 2024 Trust for Public Land ParkScore Index. It analyzed whether and how parks and greenspaces were included in assessing community health. To complement this analysis, the research team conducted interviews and focus groups with 29 representatives from hospitals, park agencies, and community organizations to understand perceived benefits, barriers, and opportunities for cross-sector collaboration. 

About Trust for Public Land   

Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national nonprofit that works to connect everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors. As a leader in equitable access to the outdoors, TPL works with communities to create parks and protect public land where they are needed most. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than  4 million acres of public land, created more than 5,504 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, raised  $112 billion  in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected  nearly 10 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org.