Hospital giant UPMC came through with a $10 million contribution at a critical point for a scholarship program for Pittsburgh high school graduates, keeping the program alive for five more years.
On April 13, UPMC announced the donation of $1 million per year over 10 years to the Pittsburgh Promise, enabling the Hill District nonprofit to continue awarding scholarships to city school graduates through 2028 for higher education.
Without UPMC’s pledge, the program would have fallen short, Pittsburgh Promise Executive Director Saleem Ghubril said.
“It’s not like the community hasn’t stepped up — it’s an enormous campaign,” Mr. Ghubril said. “But for the last several years, our fundraising was losing steam. I just didn’t know how we would do it without UPMC.”
The Pittsburgh Promise was created in 2007 with a $100 million challenge grant from UPMC that hinged on other nonprofits matching UPMC’s contribution. In 2017, UPMC paid off its commitment, even though the Pittsburgh Promise had only managed to raise $94 million by then.
“Our regional workforce, including at UPMC, is already benefiting from the outcomes of this effort,” former president and CEO Jeffrey Romoff said at the time.
Since its start, Pittsburgh Promise has distributed $168.1 million in scholarships to 11,289 students who attended colleges or other institutions of higher learning. The new UPMC contribution will enable Pittsburgh Promise to continue the awards for five more years.
What happens after that is unclear.
By the start of 2023, the Pittsburgh Promise’s goal of raising $265 million was slipping out of reach, Mr. Ghubril said. No one on the board thought it was a good idea to reach out to UPMC again, including vice chair James Taylor, who is chief diversity, inclusion and talent officer at UPMC.
“UPMC had made it clear in 2017, that was it, they’d done more than their fair share,” Mr. Ghubril said. “The message was clear, the rest of the community has to step up.”
By early March, the Pittsburgh Promise had raised $237 million — $28 million short of the money needed to fund anticipated scholarships through the class of 2028 — when Mr. Ghubril, Mr. Taylor and board chair Anne Lewis, who also chairs the board of real estate developer Oxford Development Co., met to discuss the shortfall.
Mr. Ghubril said he couldn’t see a path forward without UPMC’s help.
The others finally agreed.
In a March 20 email, UPMC President and CEO Leslie Davis was asked simply, “Would you help us finish what you helped us start,” Mr. Ghubril said.
Ms. Davis responded quickly with a yes.
“It was breathtaking, just breathtaking,” Mr. Ghubril said.
The contribution will ultimately help reduce well documented disparities in health care, Ms. Davis said.
“I’m so happy UPMC is able to do this,” she said. “A lack of education is directly related to health disparities. The more we can do to close that gap, the better. That’s right in our sweet spot.”
With UPMC’s contribution, the Pittsburgh Promise reached $252.5 million, still shy of its $265 million goal, but with five years to raise the rest. Mr. Ghubril was confident that could be done.
So, what happens in 2028 when the money runs out?
“The true answer is we don’t know,” Mr. Ghubril said. “The likelihood of continuing to raise $10 million to $12 million a year is pretty low.”
The bigger issues are that a high school education is no longer adequate training for many jobs and the high cost of a college education, which has become unaffordable for many, Mr. Ghubril said. A change in public policy and public funding will be needed and preliminary discussions around this issue have already started.
Announcement of the UPMC contribution came 23 days after Mayor Ed Gainey referred 26 properties for review of their tax exempt status, including six owned by UPMC. Almost 20% of Pittsburgh property is privately owned and tax exempt and UPMC has been identified as the biggest owner of tax-exempt property in the city.
The Allegheny County Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review will make the final decision about whether the parcels will be taxed, which may not be known for years after appeals are done.
For 20 years elected officials have called on UPMC, the operator of 42 hospitals and Pennsylvania’s biggest nongovernmental employer, to contribute more with other nonprofits to the cost of running local government. More recently, Mr. Gainey ran on a campaign of forcing UPMC to pay its “fair share,” which has become a hallmark of his young administration.
Mr. Gainey, a Pittsburgh Promise board member, attended the nonprofit’s Saturday gala, when the total amount raised for scholarships was announced. He did not answer a request for comment on UPMC’s $10 million contribution.
Kris B. Mamula: kmamula@post-gazette.com
First Published: April 18, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: April 18, 2023, 3:47 p.m.