Children's Minnesota awarded $75,000 grant from UCare to support health equity initiatives

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Children's Minnesota was awarded a $75,000 grant from UCare, a Twin Cities-based health plan, to support health equity programs designed to advance intercultural awareness among employees and further cultivate community relationships.

"We are extremely grateful for the generous grant from UCare to bolster our efforts to provide equitable care to our patients and families," said Marc Gorelick, MD, president and CEO of Children's Minnesota. "The programs supported by the UCare grant will help us better understand social determinants of health and address the disparities that impact communities we serve."

Because of this grant, Children's Minnesota can pursue two major initiatives in 2020:

• An intercultural competency assessment to equip Children's Minnesota employees with the skills needed to provide inclusive and equitable patient care to serve families' unique needs and reduce health disparities.
• Dialogue sessions with diverse businesses and organizations within communities that reflect the diversity of Children's Minnesota patients and families. This will help improve the economic vitality of those communities and build stronger community partnerships.

"We are proud to support Children's Minnesota efforts to ensure that every child has an equitable health journey," said Ghita Worcester, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Chief Marketing Officer at UCare. "We know that educational programs and innovative partnerships across communities are key to eliminating health inequities."

The grant-funded initiatives complement existing efforts being led by Children's Minnesota's Health Equity Council, an internal group of leaders and staff dedicated to eliminating health disparities and addressing systemic inequities that will lead to better outcomes and experiences for underserved, unserved and inappropriately served cultural and ethnic communities.

About Children's Minnesota

Children's Minnesota is the seventh largest pediatric health system in the United States and the only health system in Minnesota to provide care exclusively to children, from before birth through young adulthood. An independent and not-for-profit system since 1924, Children's serves kids throughout the Upper Midwest at two free-standing hospitals, 12 primary and specialty care clinics and six rehabilitation sites. Additionally, Children's is Minnesota's only Level I pediatric trauma center inside a hospital dedicated solely to children. Children's maintains its longstanding commitment to the community to improve children's health by providing high-quality, family-centered pediatric services and advancing those efforts through research and education. This work is made possible in large part by generous philanthropic and volunteer support from individuals and organizations throughout the state and region. An award-winning health system, Children's received Magnet^® recognition from The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and was verified as a Level I Children's Surgery Center by the American College of Surgeons in 2018. Additionally, Children's is regularly ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top children's hospital. Please visit childrensMN.org.

About UCare

UCare is an independent, nonprofit health plan providing health care and administrative services to more than 430,000 members throughout Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin. UCare partners with health care providers, counties and community organizations to create and deliver Medicare, Medicaid and Individual & Family health plans. The health plan addresses health care disparities and care access issues through a broad array of community initiatives. UCare has received Top Workplaces honors from the Star Tribune for 10 consecutive years since the rankings began in 2010.

SOURCE Children's Minnesota

Related Links

www.childrensmn.org