Minneapolis wins CityHealth gold medal rating for public health policies

The city of Minneapolis has received a gold medal rating from CityHealth for improving the health and well-being of its residents by adopting local policies related to residents’ everyday quality of life.

According to a release, CityHealth — an initiative of the Beaumont Foundation and Kaiser Permanente — awards the 40 largest U.S. cities gold, silver and bronze medals according to the strength and number of the policies in place to improve people’s day-to-day quality of life, well-being and health. The Minneapolis Health Department partnered with the St. Paul-based Public Health Law Center to verify that Minneapolis had met the CityHealth policy requirements.

Minneapolis joins CityHealth’s 10 gold medal cities, which include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Louisville, New York, San Antonio, San Francisco and Seattle.

"This important recognition is a result of tireless efforts by our Health Department and community partners who came together to make our city healthier and more vibrant during an incredibly challenging chapter for our city," said Mayor Jacob Frey. "Minneapolis is a dynamic city and our Black and brown neighbors have historically been disproportionately impacted by a variety of health disparities. That’s why we have remained committed to taking a data-first approach to informing policies and decisions that generate equitable, healthy results for all our residents."

In addition to winning the overall gold medal, the city also won six individual gold medals for the following categories:

• Complete streets
• Earned sick leave
• Healthy food procurement
• High-quality, accessible pre-K
• Safer alcohol sales
• Tobacco 21

The city also earned a silver medal for the smoke-free indoor air category and a bronze in affordable housing/inclusionary zoning.

To read more about the categories and winners, click here.