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,
mary.gattuso@cvshealth.com, 401-770-9811
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SOURCE CVS Health