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/> recently launched a subsidiary, , focused on investing in companies that improve the overall health and well-being of patients. The launch reflects its strategy to employ a “whole-person” care model extending beyond medical treatment.

will target its investments to health-related companies with aims to enable aging seniors to thrive independently in their homes, support parents in raising kids with less stress and greater confidence, and help people achieve their mind, body and nutritional goals.

The subsidiary's first investment is in San Francisco-based , a personalized telenutrition provider, offering nutrition counseling and other digital services to make it easier for people to eat well on a budget. The platform, which has 1.25 million members from more than 650 employers, also issues “foodscripts” to help users with care coordination and those with obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension and other chronic diseases to begin clinically validated diets.

Foodsmart raised $25 million in a Series C funding round led by Advocate Aurora Enterprises. While many organizations target investments to provide a near-term return on investment, Advocate Aurora Enterprises is in it for the long haul, notes Scott Powder, the subsidiary’s president.

Powder sees broad community benefit to the investment enterprise, noting that a program like Foodsmart has application for all of the health system’s 3 million patients. “As a national leader in value-based care, at least half of those people we [serve] have some financial risk for their overall health, and so this becomes a really powerful tool there.”