July 1, 2009

R_X for Rhode Island:
Foundation makes grants of $1.6 million for primary care

Fund for a Healthy Rhode Island supports eight organizations with innovative programs to extend healthcare to 13,000 Rhode Islanders

Foundation President & CEO Neil Steinberg

The Rhode Island Foundation yesterday announced the first round of grants from its Fund for a Healthy Rhode Island, a $20 million endowment established at the close of 2007 as part of a settlement between Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island and the U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island, and received by the Foundation in February 2008. Grants totaling $1.6 million were awarded to eight local organizations in three specific focus areas: making primary care services available where and when people can use them; making affordable medications available in connection with primary care; and increasing awareness and education about the importance of primary care and taking personal responsibility for healthcare behaviors.

Former U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse joined Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Neil Steinberg, Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Roberts, outgoing U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente, and other officials at Blackstone Valley Community Health Center in Pawtucket to make the announcement of the grants, which range from $35,000 to $750,000 and from one to three years. Foundation Vice President for Grant Programs Owen Heleen, who has spearheaded the Foundation’s grantmaking efforts in healthcare for nearly a decade, described the eight funded projects as “collaborative, innovative, and strategic.”

Senator Whitehouse, who sits on the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, praised the Foundation for its foresight in choosing primary care as the focus for the Fund for a Healthy Rhode Island, noting, “The Rhode Island Foundation is making a worthwhile investment in our Ocean State’s well-being. Greater access to primary care will improve health outcomes and lower costs by promoting prevention and improving coordination of care.”

In her remarks, Lieutenant Governor Roberts congratulated the Foundation on receiving an award from The Philanthropic Collaborative (TPC) and Grantmakers in Health, both of Washington, D.C., for “innovative ideas in health.” TPC announced the awards on June 12 in Providence; the Duke Foundation and the Donaghue Foundation also were recipients. “The Rhode Island Foundation has been a leader on many healthcare issues for underserved populations,” noted Roberts. “The Fund for a Healthy Rhode Island represents an important step in developing a model system for primary care that can be emulated by other states.”

Loretta Tharp of Providence Community Health Centers, Inc. chats with Jeff Migneault of Psychological Centers, Inc.

The Foundation’s Steinberg noted that the funded projects are designed to create access to primary care for more than 13,000 of the estimated 66,000 Rhode Islanders who are currently without primary care providers or facilities (2008 data, the Kaiser Foundation). “Bringing primary care to families statewide where and when they need it – on weekends and evenings, right in the neighborhood – just makes sense,” he said, adding, “We are delighted to see the level of collaboration the grant application process elicited among Rhode Island’s community health centers, which really stepped up to the challenge of creating new access points and new delivery systems.”

Primary care provides continuity and integration of all aspects of health care, and a central point of connection with an ever more complex and difficult to navigate medical care system. It is widely acknowledged that gaps in primary care lead to patients utilizing the state’s emergency rooms as their source for primary care, driving up the costs for everyone. Conversely, detailed studies from the Center for Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Dartmouth and the Commonwealth Fund found that populations with ready access to primary care physicians realize improved health outcomes, reduced mortality, lower utilization of health care resources, and lower overall costs to care.

A recent report issued by the American College of Physicians noted that “Primary care, the backbone of the nation’s health care system, is at grave risk of collapse.” It is predicted that the United States will need 40 percent more primary care physicians by 2020.

Later this year, the Foundation plans to announce details of a loan forgiveness program for primary care providers – family physicians, pediatricians, nurse practitioners, mental health workers, case managers, internists and other healthcare workers – that will constitute additional investments in the state from the Fund for a Healthy Rhode Island.

Projects funded by the Fund for a Healthy Rhode Island include:

Making primary care services available

Grantees Dale Klatzker, The Providence Center, (left) and Merrill Thomas, Providence Community Health Centers

Providence Community Health Centers, $750,000, three years
Rapid Access Rhode Island is an innovative partnership among Providence Community Health Centers, Inc., Blackstone Valley Community Health Care, Inc., and The Providence Center designed to increase access to primary care services for residents of Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls. Access to primary care services will be increased through increased hours of operation, the co-location of behavioral health and primary care services, and expanded services to patients. Ultimately, the organizations will open a new “urgent care” type centers in Providence as a yet to be determined location and in Pawtucket at the Blackstone Valley Community Health Center. The project will serve 10,300 new patients annually.

Rhode Island Free Clinic (RIFC), $300,000, three years
Assistance from the Rhode Island Foundation will help RIFC to significantly expand access to primary care for Rhode Island’s uninsured adult population. With annual increases in clinic hours and physicians participating in the Physician Network, RIFC will grow the number of patient visits provided to uninsured patients. More patient visits translate to more uninsured adults who otherwise would not have access to high quality, integrated, and comprehensive medical care. The Free Clinic aims to triple the number of patient visits available at its Broad Street clinic and enroll 175 physicians to see Free Clinic patients in their own offices. The Physicians Network will grow to serve 350 new uninsured patients at the end of the three-year grant.

Northwest Community Health Center: $70,000, one year
The organization is proposing to expand the availability of primary care services through the establishment of evening hours at its health center facilities in Pascoag and North Kingstown. Under this proposal, services would be available until 8:00 PM, Monday through Friday. Presently, primary care services are available until 6:00 PM in Pascoag and 5:00 PM in North Kingstown. The Pascoag and North Kingstown centers already operate full days on Saturdays. The project will serve 1,500 patients.

Tri-Town Community Action, $80,000, one year
Tri-Town Community Action Agency will expand access to primary care services available at its community health center located at 1126 Hartford Avenue in Johnston. Currently, Tri-Town provides comprehensive medical and behavioral health services to 2,900 unduplicated patients, most of whom are living at or below 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines. The precipitous economic downturn, unemployment rate, and resulting loss of health insurance have significantly increased the need for services. Tri-Town proposes to hire a part-time physician, nurse and medical support staff to increase its capacity and provide services during evenings and weekends, providing greater access to primary care services. The project will serve 750 new patients.

Affordable medications

Taming Asthma, $35,000, one year
Taming Asthma will provide an affordable, patient-friendly medication program for low-income uninsured adults and children with asthma, as well as underwrite a medication voucher program study designed to help low-income asthma patients better afford needed asthma medication. The project will serve 312 patients.

Education and outreach

Shape Up Rhode Island, $250,000, three years
Shape Up Rhode Island has partnered with the Rhode Island State Nurses Association (RISNA) and Rhode Island Primary Care Physicians Corporation to create an innovative primary care outreach plan that directs thousands of patients to appropriate wellness resources and to become active participants in the Shape Up program. The project will work with all primary care physicians in the state and aims to enroll 4,000 individuals in the Shape Up program. This new participation is in addition to the 13,000 now participating in the group’s existing fitness program.

Dr. Pablo Rodriguez of Latino Public Radio talks with William White of John Snow, Inc.

Latino Public Radio, $51,083, one year
Latino Public Radio (LPR) will develop and air a new program, Sin Seguro (Uninsured), to emphasize the importance of primary care and discuss resources for those who have no insurance coverage. LPR provides a valuable service with several programs addressing health to the Latino community who often do not have the ability to seek medical help due to lack of insurance, lack of adequate transportation and financial barriers. Sin Seguro will reach approximately 55,000 listeners and will air Friday mornings. The Fund for a Healthy Rhode Island grant will support 23 Sin Seguro programs.

Rhode Island State Nurses Association (RISNA), $80,000, one year
RISNA will conduct a multi-year statewide consumer education campaign designed to educate Rhode Islanders about the importance of primary care and to encourage appropriate utilization of primary care services. The campaign will feature the annual publication of a consumer guide to primary care services in Rhode Island, partnerships with major media outlets in the state, and collaboration with partner organizations in a grassroots community-based outreach initiative. The project will serve the whole state.