Healthcare

The cooperative model plays a small but important role in the U.S. healthcare system and can be found at every level of healthcare. Unlike traditional investor-owned healthcare companies, cooperatives in healthcare are owned and governed by their members. Those members may be patients, employers, healthcare workers, or healthcare organizations, depending on the type of cooperative. Different cooperative models seek to align incentives around quality and community benefit, but they empower different stakeholders within the healthcare system.

Benefits of the cooperative model in healthcare

The cooperative model offers several advantages in health care because it prioritizes people and community needs over maximizing profits. Whether owned by consumers, patients, workers, providers, or a combination of stakeholders, healthcare cooperatives are designed to improve access, affordability, and accountability.

Community control and local decision-making
Increased focus on patient and community needs
Improved access to care
Greater accountability and transparency

In this section, we are going to give examples based on who the members of the cooperative are.

Patients
Healthcare workers
Healthcare organizations
Employers

Patients

In consumer-owned healthcare, patients are not merely customers, they are owners, giving them both a financial stake and a governance role in how healthcare is delivered.

Key advantages of consumer-owned healthcare cooperatives:

Consumers have a stronger voice in healthcare decisions
Resources are focused on member benefit rather than shareholder returns
There is a greater emphasis on preventative and community-based care

Examples

Group Health Cooperative of South-Central Wisconsin (GHC-SCW) is a nonprofit, member-owned health plan that provides high-quality healthcare services, including primary and specialty care, to more than 70,000 members in and around Dane County, Wisconsin. More than 50 years ago, GHC-SCW pioneered a new approach to healthcare as the area’s first health maintenance organization (HMO). Community mems came together to form a nonprofit, member-owned cooperative that would provide affordable, accessible health insurance and healthcare services while giving members a voice in the organization’s governance. care together for the benefit of members.

HealthPartners is a consumer-owned cooperative that provides health insurance and health care services to more than 1.4 million people across the Upper Midwest. Headquartered in Minnesota, HealthPartners operates 55 primary care clinics, 22 urgent care clinics, and eight hospitals. It is the largest consumer governed nonprofit health care and insurance cooperative in the United States.

Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative (CVHC) is a nonprofit healthcare organization owned and guided by the community. The cooperative was formed by local residents, health care professionals, and community leaders following the abrupt closure of two local hospitals and several clinics in 2024. CVHC’s mission is to ensure that high-quality, affordable health care remains accessible close to home while keeping decision-making in the hands of local communities. The cooperative is working to restore essential services lost as a result of the closures, including hospital care, cancer treatment, and specialty services. By prioritizing community needs and local governance, CVHC is building a sustainable health care system designed to serve the Chippewa Valley for the long term.

Healthcare Workers

When healthcare workers are the members and owners of the cooperative, it is called a worker cooperative. In this model, home health aides, therapists, doulas, or other healthcare workers own and govern the organization.

Key advantages of worker-owned healthcare cooperatives

High employee engagement
Better quality of care
Improved wages and working conditions
Democratic decision making
Lower staff turnover

Examples

Phoenix Mental Health Cooperative is a therapist-owned cooperative, dedicated to providing compassionate outpatient mental health services while promoting social justice for all. Their mission is to create a safe and inclusive space where individuals from diverse backgrounds feel heard, respected, and empowered.</span

PT360 Cooperative is an employee-owned physical therapy cooperative based in Vermont. The cooperative’s team of therapists use a wide range of evidence-based techniques and services to provide 360° of care for lifelong health, wellness, and rehabilitation.

Roots 4 Change (R4C) is the first women-owned cooperative founded by immigrant Latina/Indigenous and community-based doulas in Wisconsin. The cooperative provides responsive maternal care, doula services, and wellness support to immigrant families throughout their journeys of pregnancy, childbirth, parenting, motherhood, and womanhood.

Five Point Holistic Health is a worker-owned wellness clinic in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood that offers acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage therapy, mental health counseling, movement classes, and community education programs. The clinic takes a holistic approach to health, combining traditional healing practices and mental health support to help people improve their overall well-being and address a wide range of health concerns.

Healthcare Organizations

When healthcare organizations themselves are the cooperative owners, the model is typically a purchasing cooperative or a shared-services cooperative. Independent hospitals, clinics, physician groups, community health centers, pharmacies, or long-term care providers join together as member owners to achieve goals that would be difficult to achieve individually.

Key advantages of purchasing and shared-service cooperatives in healthcare:

Lower costs through collect purchasing
Greater negotiating power
Preservation of local control
Access to shared services and expertise

Examples

Independent Pharmacy Cooperative, headquartered in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, is owned by independent pharmacies. Instead of operating alone, thousands of independent pharmacy owners join together to increase their purchasing power and compete more effectively with large pharmacy chains.

Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative is a cooperative owned by rural Wisconsin hospitals. The cooperative helps members work together, share resources, lower costs, improve care, and keep local healthcare strong without giving up their independence.

CareChoice Minnesota is a cooperative owned by senior care providers that helps independent nursing homes and senior living organizations work together to lower costs, improve quality, and strengthen their position with health plans.

Employers

Employers or groups of businesses that pool their purchasing power to negotiation better health insurance rates, lowers costs or secure higher-quality care for their employees.

The Alliance, based in Wisconsin, is a nonprofit cooperative owned by its employer members. Since its founding in 1990, The Alliance has helped self-funded employers work together to improve the quality and affordability of healthcare. By collaborating on provider contracting, network design, and cost management strategies, member employers gain greater purchasing power and increased control over healthcare spending. Through its cooperative structure, The Alliance enables organizations to address shared healthcare challenges while keeping the focus on the needs of employers and the individuals they serve.