Highmark Foundation Awards Grants to Support Cancer, Avian Flu and Patient Care Programs
Posted on: Tuesday, 31 October 2006, 15:00 CST
PITTSBURGH, Oct. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of the Highmark Foundation recently approved $470,000 for third-quarter grants, which include grants to support cancer, avian flu and patient care programs.
"The Highmark Foundation aims to fund programs that can make a difference in our communities," said Highmark Foundation President Yvonne Cook. "These programs -- in cancer, avian flu and patient care -- will help patients to have access to the best possible health care."
The following grants were awarded under the Highmark Foundation's general health funding category:
- To provide a complete continuum of breast cancer care and education for women in Elk and Cameron counties, Elk Regional Health System was awarded a two-year $99,000 grant to support implementation of the New, Healthy You Program, which is a community-based breast cancer prevention and awareness education initiative. The program is designed to meet the prevention education needs of patients diagnosed with breast cancer, patients with recurring cancer and the general public. The goals of the program are: * Increase the number of women in the region who are receiving yearly clinical breast exams and mammograms by sending reminders to women, making personal telephone calls and holding health fairs. * Provide educational sessions for newly diagnosed and recurring breast cancer patients with information on factors that influence breast cancer such as environment, nutrition and exercise. * Conduct community education sessions to help the general public understand the link between the environment, nutrition, exercise and health issues. - Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania received a $253,403 grant to implement a comprehensive plan to ensure that Western Pennsylvania hospitals are prepared in the event of a widespread outbreak of an infectious disease, such as avian influenza, or any other, similar socially disruptive event. This grant will address patient care activities and resources and community demands on hospitals, as well as information, surveillance and reporting. Throughout its membership, the Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania will implement and analyze major strategies, such as availability of pharmaceuticals, supplies and equipment, to address preparedness in the event of an outbreak. - Helping health care providers improve patient care is the goal of a $125,000 grant to the Squirrel Hill Health Center to implement the Perfecting Patient Care(TM) System. The grant will support training and education of staff members to utilize the Perfecting Patient Care System, which allows for best practices to be tracked ensuring that patient needs drive care and the most efficient and effective tools are used to ensure continuity and follow-up for patients. Squirrel Hill Health Center is designed as a demonstration site for other Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and will be the first in the nation to illustrate the Perfecting Patient Care System in a primary care setting. The Health Center will focus on chronic disease management and geriatric best practices and will aim to demonstrate how health care quality can be maximized and health care costs can be decreased by use of a team approach and commitment to the application of evidence-based care.
The Highmark Foundation, created in 2000 as an affiliate of Highmark Inc., is a charitable organization and a private foundation that supports initiatives and programs aimed at improving community health. The foundation's mission is to improve the health, well-being and quality of life for individuals who reside in the Pennsylvania communities served by Highmark Inc. The foundation awards two types of grants -- Highmark Healthy High 5 and its traditional four areas of general health focus, which include chronic disease, communicable disease, family health and service delivery systems. Where possible, the foundation looks to support evidence-based programs that impact multiple counties and work collaboratively to leverage additional funding to achieve replicable models. For more information about the Highmark Foundation, visit http://www.highmark.com/.
Highmark Foundation
CONTACT: Kristin Ash of Highmark Inc., +1-412-544-8971, orkristin.ash@highmark.com
Web site: http://www.highmark.com/
Source: PRNewswire
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