Quality Health Foundation Awards $392,438 to Twelve Local Organizations to Improve Health Care

EASTON, Md., Sept. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Quality Health Foundation recently awarded grants totaling $392,438 to 12 organizations in Maryland and the District of Columbia to support local healthcare-related quality improvement efforts.

Funding decisions for the grants, which this year range from $20,000 to $50,000, center on a project's potential to impact access to care and improve the quality of healthcare and human services, particularly among areas of underserved populations.

"We are pleased to single out these 12 organizations for the important quality improvement initiatives they have undertaken," said Brenda Crabbs, Chair of the Quality Health Foundation Board of Directors. "Their work is perfectly aligned with Quality Health Foundation's mission to improve the health status of individuals and communities."

Selected from a pool of approximately 80 charitable, not-for-profit applicants, the 12 FY 2012 grantees are:

Access Carroll, Inc.
Access Carroll provides primary health care at no charge to low-income and uninsured residents of Carroll County. As a full-time safety net provider in the county, the organization serves as a model for patient-centered care and a medical home for the targeted population. A grant of $49,738 will fund the Pharmaceutical Management Program by supporting the salary and related costs for a Medication Coordinator. During this grant cycle, this individual is expected to secure more than $1.1 million in chronic disease medications from pharmaceutical companies, which will then be provided to patients at no cost.

Catastrophic Health Planners, Inc.
Catastrophic Health Planners, a Columbia, Md.-based not-for-profit organization, provides free education, support and referrals for improving the quality of life of individuals and families facing a catastrophic health event. A grant of $25,000 will support efforts to share information and provide assistance in the form of personal counseling; support groups; financial planning; Social Security Disability and social services; and medical, accounting, legal and insurance services. The organization also helps patients with basic needs, including housing assistance, food stamps, and utility assistance. The grant will allow Catastrophic Health Planners to increase its caseload from 250 to 375 patients per month.

Community of Hope
Community of Hope will receive $30,000 to support its Case Management Program. Founded in 1975, Community of Hope provides healthcare, housing, educational opportunities, and spiritual support to low-income, homeless, and underserved families and individuals in the District of Columbia. Providers will refer patients with chronic conditions and who have life challenges to a Community of Hope case manager. The case manager will then work closely with the patient and the provider, tailoring services to the patient's need. The increased funding for the case management program will directly impact 100 patients at the health center by helping them better manage their healthcare needs and improve their health outcomes.  

For All Seasons, Inc.
For All Seasons, Inc. was founded in 1986 to provide community awareness and education regarding child and adult sexual abuse, rape and sexual assault. While continuing its original purpose, the organization has evolved into a multifaceted human services organization providing a full continuum of mental health treatment and supportive services to residents of the Mid-Shore through a 24/7 Hotline and strategically located offices in Kent, Queen Anne's, Caroline, Talbot and Dorchester Counties. For All Seasons, Inc. will receive $36,000 to provide 522 mental health evaluations and psychotherapy sessions to 87 uninsured clients.

Help and Outreach Point of Entry
Help and Outreach Point of Entry, located in Salisbury, Md., will receive $40,000 to support its health outreach program to homeless persons and those at risk of becoming homeless. At a single point of entry, the program supports access to all of the services required to address to social and medical needs of homeless people. In addition, the organization operates a health screening clinic that focuses on blood pressure screening, flu shots and tuberculosis testing. Approximately 1,000 to 1,500 clients will be served with this grant.

KidsSmiles
Kid Smiles will receive a grant of $30,000 to provide preventive and restorative dental care and innovative health education programs to children in under-resourced communities in the District of Columbia. The program focuses on preventing dental disease and developing positive personal behaviors. KidsSmiles will serve approximately 1,500 children through partnerships with eight elementary schools and 16 Head Start programs.

Maryland Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped
The Maryland Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped will receive $20,000 to support the Donated Dental Services Program, which provides pro bono dental care for indigent, disabled Maryland residents. Approximately 650 patients will be served during the grant period. Since its inception, the volunteer dentists and laboratories associated with the Maryland Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped have provided more than $11.7 million in dental services to 7,386 disabled Maryland residents.

Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C.
Funding in the amount of $21,700 will be provided for the SecuReach System. This system will allow Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan, D.C. to respond to the current crises in HIV and other sexually transmitted infections by removing the barriers to timely testing and results notification. Patients will receive critical test results in a more efficient, timely, confidential and patient-centered manner. Using the SecuReach System, patients will be able to immediately retrieve their test results anytime during the day or night at their convenience. Results for approximately 24,000 tests annually will be handled by the system.

Prevent Blindness Mid-Atlantic
A grant of $50,000 will enable Prevent Blindness Mid-Atlantic to implement the Starpupils™ Signature School-Based Vision Screening program. The "best practices" from this program will be used to train and certify school nurses, pediatric nurses and volunteers across the nation. Prevent Blindness Mid-Atlantic will use one of the best practices to train and certify 60 school nurses and/or clinic aides for mandated school vision screenings in Charles, Garrett and Worcester Counties. Approximately 11,200 children in kindergarten to eighth or ninth eighth grade will be screened using the Starpupils protocol.

Shepherd's Clinic
Shepherd's Clinic will receive a grant of $30,000 for salary support for clinical, behavioral health and wellness center coordinator positions. Shepherd's Clinic is a volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing comprehensive health care for Baltimore's uninsured. Clinic services include cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, gynecology, diabetic nutrition, internal medicine, physical therapy, podiatry and psychiatric care. This past year, Shepherd's Clinic established the Joy Wellness Center, where volunteers provide a wide range of healing arts and modalities, including yoga, massage therapy, nutrition education, acupuncture and smoking cessation and wellness counseling. Visits to the clinic, which is located in one of the unhealthiest neighborhoods in Baltimore City, according to the Baltimore City Health Department, increased by 364 last year. A larger increase is anticipated this year with a total of 6,400 patient visits expected.

University of Maryland Medical System Foundation
Funding in the amount of $30,000 will be provided to the University of Maryland Medical System Foundation to support the Children's Breathmobile Program. The Breathmobile is a mobile asthma clinic that provides free, specialty-based preventive care to underserved children in Baltimore City and surrounding communities. The goal of the program is to improve asthma control and quality of life for these children by increasing their adherence to preventive asthma medication regimens and decreasing Emergency Room visits, hospitalizations, and missed school days due to asthma. Approximately 500 children will be treated every 6 to 12 weeks. Since the program's inception in 2002, approximately 1,700 children have been treated at 50 schools.  

Village of Hope
Village of Hope will receive a grant of $30,000 to increase access to care for uninsured adults with diabetes and hypertension. The organization's mission is to provide programs and services to the economically disadvantaged and to involve those it serves as participants in their own care. The primary goal of the medical clinic is to provide accessible, affordable primary medical care to medically underserved adults on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Through this grant, services will be made available to 60 new patients, providing them with office visits, lab work, emergency medications and startup diabetic supplies.

About Quality Health Foundation
Quality Health Foundation is the mission arm of Quality Health Strategies, a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality. Formed in 2003, the mission of Quality Health Foundation is to improve the health of individuals and communities. To achieve this goal, the organization provides modest grants to local charitable and not-for-profit organizations that are undertaking improvement projects to impact access to and quality of healthcare and human services for individuals and communities. Since FY2006, Quality Health Foundation has awarded grants totaling more than $1.8 million to 39 organizations in Maryland and the District of Columbia. For more information, visit Quality Health Foundation on the Web at http://www.qualityhealthfoundation.org/.

SOURCE Quality Health Foundation