WOONSOCKET, R.I., April 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The CVS Health
Foundation, a private foundation created by CVS Health Corporation
(NYSE: CVS), today announced 55 new grant recipients as part of its
multi-year, $5 million commitment to
increase access to health care in communities nationwide. The
grants were awarded through the CVS Health Foundation's
partnerships with the National Association of Free & Charitable
Clinics (NAFC), the School-Based Health Alliance and the National
Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). The
Foundation is also announcing new data which illustrates that
grants previously awarded through these partnerships are already
making a measurable difference to meet community health needs.
"As a pharmacy innovation company, we are committed to
addressing the need for more accessible, coordinated health care in
our local communities," said Eileen Howard
Boone, President of the CVS Health Foundation. "Through our
partnership with leading community health organizations, we've been
able to make meaningful progress toward improving care
coordination, better managing chronic conditions and increasing
access to care. We are excited to announce new grant recipients
whose dedicated work will help us continue to support unique
approaches and models needed to improve outcomes and lower health
care costs."
Through its multi-year commitment, the Foundation has already
supported nearly 150 community health organizations nationwide that
share its purpose of helping people on their path to better health.
New data from the results of these partnerships demonstrates this
investment is already increasing access to affordable care, better
coordinating care for patients and improving chronic disease
management and prevention, including helping people quit
smoking.
INCREASED ACCESS TO CARE
Grants awarded in partnership with the National Association of
Free & Charitable Clinics have allowed grantees to increase
operating hours and the number of patient visits, resulting in a
decrease in the number of emergency room visits and improved
patient compliance. For example, the Lake County Free Clinic in
Painesville, Ohio reduced their
patient appointment wait time from 30 days to 19 days on average.
For the first time in recent years, the Family Care Health Center
in St. Louis, Missouri increased
the number of patients it serves. And, Family Health Centers of
San Diego designed the Students
and Engaged Parents for Health program, which has already helped
more than 600 students and their parents learn about healthy
habits, nutrition and how to access local health and social
services resources.
IMPROVED CARE COORDINATION
Working with grantees to better coordinate care can reduce
health care costs and improve outcomes for patients. For example,
in Massachusetts, the MetroWest
Free Medical Program provided more intensive and coordinated health
education to nearly 460 patients as well as follow-up care for 163
patients, which helped 92 percent of those follow-up patients
improve their medication adherence. The St. Thomas Clinic in
Franklin, Indiana, was able to
improve compliance with hospital discharge instructions from 33
percent prior to the Coordinator of Care program, to 77 percent in
2014. And school-based health grant recipients have developed,
maintained and strengthened more than 125 partnerships with
community and service providers to help better serve youth with
more complex needs. For example, Project Vida in El Paso, Texas has established partnerships
with organizations such as Women's Health Center and Texas Tech University to offer their smoking
cessation programs to teens and adults that are current clients of
these organizations.
CHRONIC DISEASE MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTION
The Foundation's investment has helped patients manage and
prevent chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, hypertension
and asthma, helping them stay healthier and reduce avoidable health
care expenses across the system. For example, at the St. Petersburg
Free Clinic in Florida, 88 percent
of new diabetic education patients showed improvement in a
post-class evaluation, surpassing the program's improvement goal by
22 percent. In North Carolina, the Charlotte Community Health
Clinic (CCHC) has strengthened the connection between the clinic
and patients referred to the ER, resulting in patients using the
emergency room 47 percent less than they did prior to becoming CCHC
patients. And, 47 percent of patients of The Edward M. Kennedy
Community Health Center in Worcester,
Massachusetts who identify as smokers participated in a
smoking cessation program.
2015 GRANT RECIPEINTS
The CVS Health Foundation also awarded new grants today as a
continuation of these critical community health partnerships.
Together with the School-Based Health Alliance and the "New
Directions for School-Based Health Care" program, grantees will
expand access to medical care, support innovative technology use
and provide smoking cessation programs. Grants awarded in
partnership with the National Association of Free & Charitable
Clinics will focus on providing primary care services to
underserved populations. And, grants awarded in partnership with
the National Association of Community Health Centers and the
"Innovations in Community Health" program will support the
development of innovative, community-based programs that focus on
the treatment and management of chronic illnesses. This year, NACHC
is also celebrating 50 years since the establishment of
America's first community health centers and their success in
expanding access to quality and affordable primary and preventive
health care services to millions of uninsured and medically
underserved people nationwide. New 2015 grant recipients follow
here.
ARIZONA
National Association of
Free & Charitable Clinics
St. Vincent de Paul Virginia G. Piper Medical &
Dental Clinic (Phoenix, AZ), in
support of a dental program for adults that will identify patients
with, or at risk for, diabetes
CALIFORNIA
School-Based Health
Alliance
Family Health Centers of San Diego (San
Diego, CA), in support of a program focused on youth and
adult health education
National Association of Free & Charitable
Clinics
Westminster Free Clinic (Oak Park, CA), in support of a chronic disease
management and education program that treats patients with
hypertension, heart disease and type 2 diabetes
South Bay Community Free Clinic and California State University San Marcos School of
Nursing Student Healthcare Project (San
Diego, CA), in support of a new clinic that provides health
care services to individuals who would not receive care
otherwise
Free Clinic of Simi Valley
(Simi Valley, CA), in support of
an "Ask a Nurse" program that allows access and coordination of
care through a telephone triage nurse who provides consultations,
education and emotional support
National Association of Community Health
Centers
LifeLong Medical Care (Berkeley,
CA), in support of a diabetes panel management program
Northeast Valley Health Corporation (San Fernando, CA), in support of an innovative
program that treats patients with asthma
CONNECTICUT
National Association
of Free & Charitable Clinics
Malta House of
Care, Inc. (Hartford, CT), in
support of a health care program that helps diagnose chronic
illnesses and helps educate patients about disease prevention
National Association of Community Health Centers
First Choice Health Centers, Inc. (East Hartford, CT), in support of a diabetes
management initiative specifically targeting patients who are
non-adherent to their protocol and are high-risk
Cornell Scott Hill-Health Center (New
Haven, CT), in support of a program to lower diabetes A1c
scores in the 503 center patients who have a value of 9 percent or
higher
FLORIDA
School-Based Health
Alliance
Florida: Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation
School Health Initiative of the University of
Miami (Miami, FL), in
support of a program to expand care coordination and patient
engagement
Health Choice Network of Florida, Inc. (Miami, FL), in support of enabling staff to
work with more students and connect them to additional
resources
National Association of Free & Charitable
Clinics
Clearwater Free Clinic
(Clearwater, FL), in support of a
medication distribution program for underserved populations
Community Health Center of West Palm
Beach (West Palm Beach,
FL), in support of a chronic disease management clinic that
is helping to improve health outcomes for the underserved
population
ILLINOIS
School-Based Health Alliance
Erie Family Health
Center (Chicago, IL), in support
of a program focused on care coordination and increasing students'
access to health care providers and services
Loyola University Chicago Marcella
Niehoff School of Nursing (Chicago,
IL), in support of a mental health outreach and intervention
program
National Association of Free & Charitable
Clinics
Avicenna Community Health Center
(Champaign, IL), in support of its
community-based approach to expand its resources and health care
services to the underserved community
Community Health Care Clinic (Normal,
IL), in support of services that will improve health care
access for the homeless, including providing primary care
INDIANA
National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics
Bridges to Health (Marion, IN), in support of a pilot program
that will provide care for patients living with diabetes and
cardiac disease
MASSACHUSETTS
National
Association of Community Health Centers
Brockton Neighborhood Health
Center (Brockton, MA), in support
of a patient self-management program for diabetes and hypertension
patients
MICHIGAN
National Association of
Free & Charitable Clinics
Catherine's
Health Center (Grand Rapids, MI),
in support of a program to increase primary care access for the
underserved in the Grand Rapids
community
Dr. Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic (Pontiac, MI), in support of the implementation
of the CDC Diabetes Prevention Program, which will help prevent
type 2 diabetes among at-risk populations
National Association of Community Health
Centers
Baldwin Family Health Care (Baldwin, MI), in support of providing quality,
integrated and comprehensive health care services that are
accessible to all
NEVADA
National
Association of Community Health Centers
Northern Nevada
HOPES (Reno, NV), in support of
the implementation of a Diabetes Population Management program
designed to improve health outcomes in patients with diabetes
NEW
YORK
School-Based Health
Alliance
New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Center for
Community Health and Education (NYP CCHE) (New York, NY), in support of data programming
and the management of electronic medical records
Sisters of Charity Hospital (Buffalo,
NY), in support of a program to teach health care
practitioners coding to help meet patient needs
National Association of Community Health
Centers
The Chautauqua Center (Dunkirk, NY), in support of a chronic disease
management program for current and future clinic patients
NORTH
CAROLINA
National Association of Free &
Charitable Clinics
The Caring Community
Clinic (Jacksonville, NC), in
support of the transition to a full-service free clinic that will
provide the community with access to health care services focused
on chronic disease management
Scotland Community Health Clinic (Laurinburg, NC), in support of a program that
focuses on patients who are at risk for diabetes
Community Care Clinic of Rowan
County (Salisbury, NC), in
support of a diabetes management and smoking cessation program
OHIO
National Association of
Free & Charitable Clinics
OPEN M Summit
County Free Clinic (Akron, OH), in
support of a nutrition education program that will teach patients
the essentials to good health
Physicians CareConnection (Columbus,
OH), in support of a new technology platform that will
improve efficiencies and enhance workflow in order to better serve
patient needs
Lorain County Free Clinic (Lorain,
OH), in support of a medical services program that will
continue to mobilize, coordinate and sustain health care access to
the uninsured
Jefferson County Fourth Street Health Center (Steubenville, OH), in support of a diabetes
education program that provides screenings to current and new
patients who have symptoms of diabetes
PENNSYLVANIA
National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics
The Edward R. Leahy Jr. Center Clinic for the
Uninsured (Scranton, PA), in
support of the implementation of an electronic medical records
program and expansion of counseling and physical therapy
services
RHODE ISLAND
School-Based Health Alliance
Thundermist Health
Center (Woonsocket, RI), in
support of program focused on absenteeism, high-risk and
disciplinary action
SOUTH
CAROLINA
National Association of Free &
Charitable Clinics
Anderson Free Clinic
(Anderson, SC), in support of a
new initiative focused on coordinated care for the underserved
population
Community Medical Clinic of Kershaw
County (Camden, SC), in
support of health care models focused on tracking methods for
medication adherence and health outcomes
Good Samaritan Medical Clinic, Inc. (Chester, SC), in support of the expansion of a
women's health program that will serve approximately 400 women who
qualify for OBGYN health care services
Clinica Gratis of Community Initiatives, Inc. (Greenwood, SC), in support of a project that
will increase access to primary care services for uninsured
patients
Smith Medical Clinic, Inc. (Pawleys
Island, SC), in support of a pilot program that will measure
the impact that one-on-one medical care can have on health outcomes
in patients living with two or more chronic diseases
National Association of Community Health Centers
Fetter Health Care Network (Charleston, SC), in support of a telehealth
program for patients with diabetes
TEXAS
School-Based
Health Alliance
Project Vida (El Paso, TX), in support of smoking cessation
programs for youth and adults that help them lead tobacco-free
lives
National Association of Free & Charitable
Clinics
Lone Star Association of
Charitable Clinics (Austin, TX),
in support of a statewide training program to bring evidence-based
diabetes education models to charitable clinics throughout
Texas
Dr. James Gabbard Memorial Health
Clinic (Corpus Christi, TX), in
support of a smoking cessation study that will utilize best
practice methods and counseling strategies to help people lead
tobacco-free lives
Cornerstone Charitable Clinic (Fort
Worth, TX), in support of an innovative diabetic educational
program that will target at-risk populations
Mission Travis Mercy Clinic (Fort
Worth, TX), in support of a comprehensive program that will
assist patients in the prevention of heart disease
South County Community Clinic, dba Interfaith Community Clinic
(Oak Ridge North, TX), in support of medical, dental and education
programs that help improve the overall health and well-being of
patients
Get Up Project (Round Rock,
TX), in support of a women's health program that will
increase the number of screenings that detect cervical cancer and
breast cancer
I Care San Antonio (San Antonio,
TX), in support of the expansion of a diabetic outreach
vision program
VIRGINIA
National Association of
Free & Charitable Clinics
Chesapeake Care,
Inc. (Chesapeake, VA), in support
of a multidisciplinary effort to help improve health outcomes for
patients living with diabetes
Center for High Blood Pressure (Chesterfield, VA), in support of the expansion
of health care services including a diabetes prevention program
Free Clinic of Central Virginia
(Lynchburg, VA), in support of
health care services for patients living with chronic disease and
COPD
CrossOver Healthcare Ministry (Richmond, VA), in support of newly-implemented
quality improvement initiatives that will help ensure continued
access to high-quality health care services for the uninsured
Health Wagon (Wise, VA), in
support of a program designed to treat, prevent, and manage
cardiovascular disease
About CVS Health
CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) is a pharmacy
innovation company helping people on their path to better health.
Through our 7,800 retail pharmacies, more than 900 walk-in medical
clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with nearly 65 million
plan members, and expanding specialty pharmacy services, we enable
people, businesses and communities to manage health in more
affordable, effective ways. This unique integrated model increases
access to quality care, delivers better health outcomes and lowers
overall health care costs. Find more information about how CVS
Health is shaping the future of health at www.cvshealth.com.
Media Contacts:
Erin Shields Britt, CVS
Health
(401)
770-9237
Erin.Britt@cvscaremark.com
Eva Pereira, for CVS
Health
(781)
559-0424
eva.pereira@rfbinder.com
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SOURCE CVS Health Foundation