About Cityblock Health
Cityblock Health was founded in 2017 by Iyah Romm, Toyin Ajayi, and Bay Gross, spinning out of Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs urban innovation unit, with a specific focus on serving Medicaid beneficiaries and lower-income Medicare recipients, populations that often face significant social barriers to good health outcomes, such as housing instability, food insecurity, and limited transportation access, in addition to their direct medical needs, and that many traditional healthcare delivery models and value-based care startups have historically underserved relative to more commercially insured, higher-income patient populations.
Cityblock's care model combines primary care, behavioral health services, and social services support through interdisciplinary care teams that include community health workers, often people from the same communities and backgrounds as the patients they serve, who help patients navigate not just medical appointments but also the social and logistical barriers that commonly prevent lower-income patients from engaging consistently with healthcare, such as helping arrange transportation to appointments, connecting patients with housing assistance programs, or addressing food insecurity. This care model is supported by proprietary technology, including a care management platform originally developed with Sidewalk Labs' technical expertise, that helps care teams track and coordinate the many different medical and social interventions a given patient may need. Cityblock operates under value-based care contracts with health insurance plans and government payers, meaning the company takes on financial responsibility for a defined population's healthcare costs and outcomes rather than being paid simply per visit or service, aligning its financial incentives with actually improving patient health and reducing costly hospitalizations and emergency room visits. The company has expanded operations to a number of U.S. cities and has raised very substantial venture funding from investors including General Catalyst, Kinnevik, and Maverick Ventures, reaching unicorn status, positioning itself as a prominent example of value-based care specifically tailored to underserved, lower-income populations.
