UnitedHealthcare Donates $250,000 to West Virginia University
July 22 2021 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Funding is part of UnitedHealthcare’s $11.4 million in
Empowering Health grants focused on expanding access to care and
addressing the social determinants of health for people in
underserved communities
UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company, is
awarding a $250,000 Empowering Health grant to West Virginia
University (WVU) to expand access to care for uninsured individuals
and underserved communities.
In total, UnitedHealthcare is donating $11.4 million through
Empowering Health grants across 18 states and the District of
Columbia. The grants will assist individuals and families
experiencing challenges from food insecurity, social isolation and
behavioral health issues, and support local health promotion and
health literacy efforts.
The Empowering Health grant will help expand a WVU research
study providing and testing a suite of online tools — including
interventions, gamified solutions and chatbots — to address
depressive disorders in people without previously diagnosed
conditions. The funding will be used to recruit underserved
individuals to participate in the study.
“Social and economic factors have a profound impact on achieving
and maintaining good health,” said Joe Ochipinti, CEO,
UnitedHealthcare – Mid-Atlantic. “Through Empowering Health, we’re
working with West Virginia University to provide West Virginians
with greater access to essential resources in high-risk and
high-need communities so they can live healthier lives.”
Good health encompasses more than simply visiting a doctor’s
office. According to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine,
nearly 80% of what influences a person’s health relates to
nonmedical issues, such as food, housing, transportation and the
financial means to pay for basic daily needs. And for so many, the
global pandemic has caused additional social and economic
challenges that continue to affect healthy behaviors and exacerbate
health disparities.
Since launching its Empowering Health commitment in 2018,
UnitedHealthcare has now invested more than $40 million in
Empowering Health grants reaching more than 6 million people
through partnerships with community-based organizations in 29
states.
Additionally, UnitedHealth Group has invested more than $500
million in affordable housing communities since 2011, partnered
with food banks and meal-delivery services, and in 2019 joined with
the American Medical Association to standardize how social
determinants of health data is collected and used to create more
holistic care plans.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier
lives and making the health system work better for everyone by
simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and
wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care
providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full
spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and
Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with
more than 1.3 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,500
hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also
provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned
and operated health care facilities in South America.
UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group
(NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more
information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @UHC
on Twitter.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210722005240/en/
Tony Marusic UnitedHealthcare 312-348-3825
tony_marusic@uhc.com
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