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Premera and Pike Market Medical Clinic Announce Multi-Year Collaboration to Provide Medical Care to Downtown Seattle's Poor

Posted on: Monday, 22 January 2007, 12:01 CST

Premera Blue Cross and the Pike Market Medical Clinic today announced a 4-year collaboration under which Premera will provide significant support to the clinic's mission of providing primary care to low-income Seattle residents.

"Premera's support for the health of Washington residents does not end with our commitment to our members," said Yori Milo, executive vice president of Premera Blue Cross. "Our collaboration with the Pike Market Clinic will provide primary care to people without insurance or adequate access to healthcare," said Milo, who also serves as chair of the Western Washington Leadership Council of the American Diabetes Association.

An initial $150,000 Premera donation enables the Market Foundation to hit its $1 million fundraising target for a capital campaign to expand the Clinic's ability to serve more patients. Later this year, Premera will make additional grants to primary care and support services as well as to establish the Premera-Pike Market Diabetes Wellness Program. The company has committed to a total contribution of $350,000 over four years.

"The Clinic will be able to double its number of patient examining rooms from 6 to 12 and provide a room for group sessions such as the diabetes wellness program with this construction project," said Marlys Erickson, Market Foundation executive director. "Not only will the Clinic be able to expand its size and better fund its mental health and social work programs, this new collaboration between Pike Market Medical Clinic and Premera will enable us to address diabetes wellness."

The Pike Market Medical Clinic cares for nearly 4,000 patients each year. Two-thirds of the Clinic's patients earn less than $670 a month and one-third of the patients are homeless.

"The Clinic's patients are low-income, working poor, elderly, HIV-positive people who live in the Pike Place Market and the surrounding downtown neighborhood. They rely on the Market for basic medical care, prescriptions, lab services, mental health counseling, drug and alcohol counseling, and connections with other services in the community," said Ms. Erickson.

About Premera Blue Cross

Our mission is to provide peace of mind to our members about their health-care coverage. We provide health care coverage and related services to more than 1.3 million people. Premera Blue Cross has operated in Washington since 1933, and Alaska since 1957. Premera Blue Cross is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

Premera Blue Cross is a member of a family of companies based in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, that provide health, life, vision, dental, and long-term care insurance, and other related services.

About the Market Foundation and Pike Market Medical Clinic

The Market Foundation supports services for low-income people in the Pike Place Market, including the Clinic, Preschool, Food Bank and Senior Center. The Foundation also raises funds for public improvements and repairs to the Market's historic buildings, supports the Market's heritage programs, and helps develop new low-income housing in the Market area.

The Pike Market Medical Clinic is one of seventeen Puget Sound Neighborhood Health Centers, a system of community health centers providing primary care to more than 40,000 low-income Seattle residents.

Source: Business Wire

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