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Quality Health Foundation Awards Nearly $250,000 in Local Grants

Posted on: Thursday, 21 September 2006, 12:01 CDT

EASTON, Md., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Quality Health Foundation, the mission arm of Delmarva Foundation, recently announced local grants totaling $248,316.

A total of six awards among nearly 100 applicants have been awarded by the Quality Health Foundation, formed in May 2003 out of funds from the Delmarva Foundation, an Easton-based not-for-profit quality improvement organization with more than 30 years experience in conducting and evaluating health care quality improvement initiatives. The mission of the Quality Health Foundation is to provide charitable grants to organizations that wish to undertake improvement projects with funding based on the project's potential to impact access to and quality of healthcare to individuals and communities.

The six grantees include: ACCESS CARROLL - Westminster, MD

ACCESS CARROLL, Inc. will receive $50,000 in grant funding to expand its provision of primary health care services to the uninsured population of Carroll County. Funding will be used for a part-time position to process requests for medications through the Med Bank Program; to fund an RN position enabling the expansion of services offered; and fund a medical director/physician to provide direct medical services and review medical policies and procedures.

The Beacon Institute - Columbia, MD

The $25,000 grant will support the work of The Beacon Institute, in conjunction with the Wellspring Institute, "Wellspring Wound Care Initiative." The Wound Care clinical unit has demonstrated marked improvement in the quality of wound care, and marked reduction in the incidence of pressure ulcers. Monies will be used to host Wellspring's Wound Care Module in 2006, so that the success of the current program can be expanded to benefit 30 more of Maryland's nursing homes, impacting the lives of approximately 4,500 additional residents and 3,000 additional staff.

BOAT PEOPLE SOS - Washington, D.C.

The $50,000 grant will be used to expand the existing "Health Awareness Program for Immigrants" which addresses breast cancer awareness and screening for Vietnamese women. This expansion, HAPI-Access, will add a health education and access component that will serve an estimated 200 elderly Vietnamese immigrants and refugees in the Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. A bilingual/bicultural case manager will provide clients with culturally and linguistically appropriate one-on-one education and patient navigation services, including transportation and interpretation.

Chesapeake-Potomac Home Health Agency, Inc. - Hughesville, MD

With their $23,316 in grant funds, Chesapeake-Potomac Home Health Agency will implement patient and caregiver education and clinical pathways to reduce acute care hospitalization rates for patients on home health service. The Chesapeake-Potomac Home Health Agency serves residents in the towns and rural areas of Charles, Calvert and St. Mary's counties. Monies will be used for patient and caregiver education, individual patient measurement tools, and clinician and physician training. Clinical pathways will be established for Congestive Heart Failure, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Diabetes and Pneumonia which are the four diagnoses for which patients have the highest probability of returning to the hospital within the first two weeks of service.

Emmaus Services for the Aging - Washington, D.C.

Emmaus Services for the Aging will use their $50,000 in grant funds on a project titled, "Community Health Initiative" which brings home health screenings, medical advice and educational outreach events about critical senior health issues to 500 low-income seniors in the District of Columbia. Funds will be used to hire a full-time licensed nurse to go into homes and provide health screenings.

Washington County Health Department - Hagerstown, MD

The $50,000 grant to the Washington County Health Department will be used for a multi-media social marketing campaign to address the high incidence of teen births in the county. The purpose is to educate community members about the problem to gather additional support and awareness of interventions to decrease risky behavior among teens. The Family Planning Clinics will serve 800 teens and the media outlets and educational resources will reach 18,000 teens and 30,000 adults. Funds will be used in advertising, on contractual services-medical, on educational supplies and printing.

"We at the Quality Health Foundation are happy to be partnering with these outstanding organizations to directly improve the health of these underserved populations," said Roger C. Merrill, MD, Chairman of the Quality Health Foundation Board of Directors.

For more information, please visit http://www.qualityhealthfoundation.org/. About Quality Health Foundation

The Quality Health Foundation is the mission arm of the Delmarva Foundation, a national, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality in over 20 states. Formed in 2003, the mission of the Quality Health Foundation is to improve the health of individuals and communities. To achieve this goal, we provide modest charitable grants to organizations that wish to undertake improvement projects to impact access to and quality of healthcare and human services to individuals and communities. For more information, please visit the Quality Health Foundation on the web at http://www.qualityhealthfoundation.org/.

Delmarva Foundation

CONTACT: Nicki Shugart, Interim Quality Health Foundation ProgramDirector, +1-410-822-0697, nshugart@dfmc.org

Web site: http://www.qualityhealthfoundation.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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