viernes, 29 de septiembre de 2006
Children's Health Initiative Receives $375,000 Grant from St. Joseph Health Sysytem Foundation
NAPA, CA – The Children’s Health Initiative (CHI), launched in 2006 to ensure health coverage for low- and middle-income children and teens in Napa County, has received a three-year grant of $125,000 per year, totaling $375,000, from the St. Joseph Health System Foundation. Local sponsorship from Queen of the Valley Hospital, one of 14 hospitals in the St. Joseph Health System, helped secure the grant for CHI.
The St. Joseph Health System Foundation previously granted $120,000 in start-up funds to CHI in 2005. Queen of the Valley Hospital has also contributed $300,000 ($100,000 for three years). Other major donors include Auction Napa Valley, Blue Shield of California Foundation, the California Endowment, the County of Napa, First 5 California, First 5 Napa County, Kaiser Permanente, and United Way. The St. Joseph Health System Foundation grant funds will be used by CHI primarily to help pay health care insurance premiums for the most vulnerable low-income families.
“The grant from the St. Joseph Health System Foundation ensures that many uninsured children in Napa County will now receive comprehensive health care," says Mark Diel, executive director of CHI. “This is a significant contribution, and we are deeply appreciative to the Queen of the Valley Hospital for making this grant possible and for their efforts to improve the health of all children."
“We’re committed to working with the Children’s Health Initiative to further our mutual goal of ensuring affordable health coverage for every child in our community,” says Dennis Sisto, president and CEO of Queen of the Valley Hospital. “It says a lot about a community when we can come together to make the health of our children a top priority.”
Diel notes that grants from the St. Joseph Health System Foundation and other funders, including individual donors, are important to establishing a sustainable solution to the lack of affordable health care coverage for all families. According to Diel, CHI will need an estimated $1.7 million each year to provide outreach services and education, enrollment assistance, and support for premium payments.
“We’re in the early stages of getting CHI fully operational, but have already enrolled 671 children into health insurance in just nine months” he says. “A key goal is to ensure long-term sustainability for CHI so that we can continue to serve Napa County families who need assistance and support.”
CHI is a countywide collaborative whose mission is to ensure that all children under the age of 19 in Napa County have access to affordable health insurance coverage, and a “medical home” for continuity in health care delivery. The organization helps Napa County families in need gain access to existing free or low-cost health insurance programs, including Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, Healthy Kids, and Kaiser Permanente Child Health Plan. Emphasis is placed on creating a more integrated system of outreach, enrollment, retention, utilization, and case management.
"We are committed to supporting excellent collaboratives like this, to make sure every child is insured and has a medical home,” says Maya Dunne, CEO and president of the St. Joseph Health System Foundation. “Studies show that uninsured children are 70 percent less likely than insured children to receive medical care for common ailments and 30 percent less likely to receive medical attention following an injury."
For more information about partnering with or supporting CHI, call (707) 227-0830.