CVS Health and the CVS Health Foundation Building Healthier Communities across the Country with Nearly $3 Million in New Grants to Free Clinics

New funding from CVS Health and the CVS Health Foundation to approximately 130 clinics will increase access to care as part of longstanding partnership with the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics

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CVS Health

Jul 18, 2019, 08:00 ET

WOONSOCKET, R.I., July 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of an ongoing commitment to building healthier communities, CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) and its Foundation today announced $2.9 million in grants to the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics (NAFC) and their members. The new funding will support approximately 130 Free & Charitable Clinics in their efforts to help patients manage chronic disease, provide more wraparound services to address the social determinants of health and support treatment and prevention of substance abuse, including opioid and tobacco.

"We believe the support we provide in local communities is extending our purpose of helping people on their path to better health," said Eileen Howard Boone, president of the CVS Health Foundation, "By helping to empower health care professionals in local communities through our support of the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics, we're helping Americans find access to the quality care they need and deserve to reduce health care costs for individuals and communities, as part of our commitment to healthier communities."

The new funds bring the company and the CVS Health Foundation's total contribution to NAFC to nearly $8 million since 2015. The grants will support increased access to quality care through substance abuse prevention, chronic disease management and assessing the social determinants of health, including:

Heritage Community Clinic at Ohio University (Athens, OH) will utilize a $20,000 grant to address the social determinants of health in a clinical setting, deepening collaborating with public utility companies, housing assistance agencies, financial institutions and other organizations to increase public knowledge and awareness of resources in the local communities.
Community Volunteers in Medicine (West Chester, PA) will receive a $20,000 grant to support its Non-Opioid Pain Management Program to provide quality, comprehensive and culturally competent care to the local uninsured population.
A $20,000 grant to Ada Jenkins Families and Careers Development Center (Davidson, NC) will allow for the clinic to be open more frequently, providing additional and more convenient times for the community, including those that are chronically ill, to receive essential services.

Over 17,000 patients across America had access to needed health care in 2018 as a result of last year's funding from the CVS Health Foundation. Two grantees alone saved their local hospitals $9.7 million by providing primary care to patients who would otherwise rely on the emergency room.

"On behalf of the medically underserved, we thank the CVS Health Foundation for its continued commitment to bringing care to those who have slipped through the cracks in our healthcare system," said Nicole Lamoureux, President and CEO of the NAFC. "The funding we received this year will help us increase access to quality care across the country addressing substance abuse, chronic diseases and social determinants of health. Taking on these root causes of poor health will help us create lasting change towards health equity in America."

This year, grants will be distributed to Free and Charitable Clinics in California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington, and range from $10,000 to $20,000 each.

For more information on how the Free and Charitable Clinics will be utilizing their grants to improve community health, please visit www.cvshealth.com/NAFC.

About CVS Health

CVS Health is the nation's premier health innovation company helping people on their path to better health. Whether in one of its pharmacies or through its health services and plans, CVS Health is pioneering a bold new approach to total health by making quality care more affordable, accessible, simple and seamless. CVS Health is community-based and locally focused, engaging consumers with the care they need when and where they need it. The Company has more than 9,900 retail locations, approximately 1,100 walk-in medical clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with approximately 94 million plan members, a dedicated senior pharmacy care business serving more than one million patients per year and expanding specialty pharmacy services. CVS Health also serves an estimated 38 million people through traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including rapidly expanding Medicare Advantage offerings and a leading standalone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. The Company believes its innovative health care 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 https://www.cvshealth.com.

About the CVS Health Foundation

The CVS Health Foundation is a private charitable organization created by CVS Health that works to build healthier communities, enabling people of all ages to lead healthy, productive lives. The Foundation provides strategic investments to nonprofit partners throughout the U.S. who help increase community-based access to health care for underserved populations, create innovative approaches to chronic disease management and provide tobacco cessation and youth prevention programming. We also invest in scholarship programs that open the pathways to careers in pharmacy to support the academic aspirations of the best and brightest talent in the industry. Our philanthropy also extends to supporting our colleagues' spirit of volunteerism through Volunteer Challenge Grants to nonprofits where they donate their time and fundraising efforts. To learn more about the CVS Health Foundation and its giving, visit www.cvshealth.com/social-responsibility.

About the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics

The National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC) is the only nonprofit 501c(3) organization whose mission is solely focused on the issues and needs of the medically underserved throughout the nation and the more than 1,400 Free and Charitable Clinics and Charitable Pharmacies that serve them. The NAFC has earned the Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar. Founded in 2001 and headquartered near Washington, D.C., the NAFC is working to ensure that the medically underserved have access to affordable quality health care and strives to be a national voice promoting quality health care for all. For more information about the NAFC, please visit www.nafcclinics.org. Follow the NAFC on Twitter at @NAFClinics and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NAFCClinics.

Media Contact

Mary Gattuso, [email protected], 401-770-9811

SOURCE CVS Health