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Date: December 11, 2013 Contact: Jennifer Sykes Phone: 816-241-7006 KANSAS CITY, MO – The Health Forward Foundation has awarded 29 safety net grants totaling $4 million. These grants promote the development of a health and oral health care delivery system that provides easy access to quality health care resulting in better health, better care and lower cost.
“Through our safety net funding the Foundation was seeking projects that support the implementation of models of service delivery that hold the promise of delivering the three-part aim of better health, better health care and lower costs through improved quality,” said President/CEO Bridget McCandless, M.D. “We are proud to fund these programs to help improve how we deliver health and oral health care in our service area.”The Foundation received a total of 69 proposals totaling approximately $11.4 million in requests. The following grants were awarded during the December Board of Directors meeting:
Agency Amount Awarded Project Description Baptist-Trinity Lutheran Legacy Foundation $75,000 To provide emergency medical assistance to low income, underinsured and uninsured individuals. Cass Community Health Foundation $157,000 To support part of the full-time and part-time dentist positions that will provide oral health services to Medicaid and low-income uninsured children. Communities Creating Opportunity Organization $120,000 To support CCO’s Health Opportunity KC initiative. This project works to create better health and expand healthcare access to the most vulnerable in Kansas City; as well as re-prioritize health access and equity among elected leadership and in policy determinations. Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas Inc. $200,000 To support a safety net clinic providing medical, dental and mental health care to the uninsured and underserved of Allen County regardless of their ability to pay. Comprehensive Mental Health Services, Inc. $163,632 To expand our Health Care Home program – which is currently for Medicaid recipients only – to include uninsured/underinsured individuals whose incomes are 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Cornerstones of Care $232,000 To provide bilingual primary health care, chronic disease management, preventive care, patient education, medication assistance and care coordination for the uninsured in Wyandotte County. Duchesne Clinic $150,000 To continue and expand the counseling and intervention provided through the ‘Si, Se Puede!’ Program for underserved, Spanish-speaking, immigrant women in the Kansas City area. El Centro, Inc. $137,379 To support Health Without Barriers program in both Wyandotte and Johnson Counties providing culturally-competent health navigation to under-/uninsured people. Health Options that Matter (fiscal agent SW Blvd Family Health Care) $75,000 To provide prenatal care/deliveries and improve maternal/infant outcomes in Wyandotte County. Health Partnership of Johnson County $150,000 To add a bi-lingual physician to improve services and communication with the growing number of patients that speak Spanish. Jewish Vocational Service $58,100 To support the Refugee-Immigrant Health Access Project that coordinates timely health care for new refugees within the span of their Medicaid benefits (eight months). Kansas City CARE Clinic $300,000 To support the general medicine and oral health programs, which improve access to high quality and culturally-competent medical and dental care for underserved adults, with a focus on patients with chronic diseases. Kansas University Endowment Association $100,000 To support ongoing operations of Silver City Health Center, particularly salaries for staff who provide health care services to the under- and uninsured. KU Endowment Association $35,000 To provide key operational support for the JayDoc Free Clinic, in which students from the University of Kansas provide needed care for the poor and underserved of Wyandotte County. Legal Aid of Western Missouri $100,000 To provide counsel, advocacy and representation for new applicants who are denied access to (or who are not eligible for) coverage through the ACA; file appeals for benefits to reimburse the cost of patient’s care; and conduct outreach to connect with patients and agencies that serve the target population of the LSAM project. Mid-America Regional Council Community Services Corporation $177,835 To support a Care Coordination Program that provides Community Health Workers (CHW) to provide care coordination in three Kansas City safety net clinics and one hospital. Miles of Smiles, Inc. $98,000 To provide free access to quality, comprehensive oral health care at their schools to 1,500 low-income, school-age children living in Kansas City, Mo (specifically Clay and Platte Counties). Riverview Health Services Inc. $141,163 To provide access for the medically uninsured and underinsured to medications and medical supplies and to chronic disease education and disease management support. S A V E Foundation Inc. $53,700 To support a Supportive Housing Services Program that will support low-income individuals with HIV/AIDS, mental illness or substance abuse issues obtain and maintain access to health care and other vital social supports. Samuel U Rodgers Health Center FOUNDATION, Inc. $250,000 To support the asset transfer of Cabot Westside Medical & Dental Center from Saint Luke’s Health System to Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center. The transfer in assets, (building, equipment, staff) will ensure that critical services for more than 7,000 monolingual Spanish, bilingual Latinos, and other community members have access to linguistic and cultural appropriate medical and dental care. Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center $230,000 For a Community Centered Care Initiative that includes a collaboration with Truman Medical Centers, Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center and the Housing Authority of Kansas City, MO. The project will focus on Chouteau Courts and Riverview Garden residents to improve the health of the community with the objective of creating the healthiest zip code in Kansas City. The Initiative will implement evidence based approaches to improve coordination and transitions of care, make available primary care case management, address health determinants, integrate behavioral health, and reduce inappropriate ED visits. Seton Center Family & Health Services $100,000 To provide professional staffing, equipment, supplies, and needy funds for oral health care for the uninsured and vulnerable. Southwest Boulevard Family Health Care Services of Greater Kansas City $300,000 To provide medical, dental, and supportive services for medically underserved persons in Wyandotte County, Kan. Swope Health Services $155,137 To support one full-time and one part-time dentist as well as and one part-time dental assistant, which will allow SHS to maintain its region-side dental program for uninsured and underinsured low-income residents. This includes doubling the hours of our homeless dental clinic, which focuses exclusively on the special personal and dental needs of homeless people in Jackson County. Synergy Services, Inc. $125,000 To support Synergy’s Homeless Youth Campus onsite health clinic’s key staff positions and a portion of the medical and dental partners’ contracts. Thrive Allen County Inc. $31,140 To support a healthcare educator to work with the uninsured in Allen County to educate them concerning the ACA and help the uninsured sign up for coverage and subsidies on the health insurance marketplace. The Health Care Educator will also work with small employers to help them take advantage subsidies for insuring employees and direct any uninsured to Allen County’s new FQHC to provide a medical home. Turner House Clinic Inc. $100,000 To fully implement a Patient-Centered Medical Home for underserved children by supporting salaries and other operating funds that are essential to achieve the IHI Triple Aim of better care, better health and lower costs. Visiting Nurse Association (VNA Corporation) $68,750 To provide high-risk home health patients an in-home consultation visit with a licensed pharmacist, or senior year pharmacy student under the pharmacist’s supervision and guidance, to provide medication therapy management services. West Central Missouri Community Action Agency $116,164 To support a women’s safety net clinic in Cass County, MO, plus provide outreach education to at risk women and teens The safety net grants are the final Foundation Defined Grants (FDGs) awarded by the Foundation in 2013. For more information, visit Health Forward’s website at www.healthforward.org.
-Health Forward-
ABOUT Health Forward The Health Forward Foundation provides leadership, advocacy and resources that eliminate barriers to quality health for the uninsured and underserved in Kansas City, Mo., Cass, Jackson and Lafayette counties in Missouri and Allen, Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas. Since it began grantmaking in 2005, Health Forward has awarded over $180 million to agencies addressing health needs in the community. For more information, visit www.healthforward.org.
