Quality Health Foundation Awards Grants

Charitable organizations receive funds to transform healthcare

Quality Health Foundation (QHF), the mission arm of Quality Health Strategies (QHS), recently awarded grants totaling $395,000 to twelve organizations across Maryland and in Washington, DC supporting local healthcare-related quality improvement efforts.

Funding decisions for the 2014-2015 grants, which range from $20,000 to $50,000, were determined by a project’s potential to impact access to quality healthcare and human services, particularly among underserved populations. QHF selected this year’s awardees from more than 80 charitable, not-for-profit applicants.

“We are pleased to single out these organizations for their important quality improvement initiatives,” said Brenda Crabbs, Chair of the QHF Board of Directors. “Their work is perfectly aligned with our mission to improve the health status of individuals and communities. Although the amounts may seem modest, the impact can be great for these 12 charitable organizations.”  Catherine Smoot-Haselnus, QHS Chair said that “the efforts of QHF are instrumental in creating solutions to transform health.”

A grant of $30,000 provided to Access Carroll, Inc., a patient-centered and integrated medical home for low-income residents of Carroll County, will support the costs of the Pharmaceutical Management Program.  This program focuses on addressing chronic disease prevention, maintenance, and education and will secure over $1 million in medications free of charge from pharmaceutical companies for these patients.

QHF awarded the annual Goldgeier Award to Breathe DC, Inc., giving them $35,000 for the “Breathe EASY” asthma home visiting program. Breathe DC assesses the home environment of children with severe asthma and provides tools and services to reduce exposure to known asthma triggers in the home.

Channel Marker, Inc., a mental health support agency serving Caroline, Dorchester and Talbot counties, was awarded $40,000 to expand its Client Wellness/Health Home Program. The funds will be used for a care manager who will work with clients to emphasize health promotion, illness prevention, and prevention practices.

A grant of $20,000 was awarded to Deaf MD to increase the deaf community’s knowledge of diabetes including cause, symptoms, diagnosis, care, prevention and management through a series of health education videos. The information is posted on the organization’s website with links to videos in American Sign Language.

Also on the topic of diabetes, Doctors Community Hospital Foundation received a grant of $25,000 to support its “On the Road Diabetes Self-Management Program.” A bi-lingual nurse will be hired to expand the program to the Latino populations throughout Prince Georges County.

For All Seasons, Inc., a licensed outpatient mental health clinic with offices in Kent, Queen Anne’s, Caroline, Talbot and Dorchester counties, provides a full continuum of mental health treatment to people of all ages without regard to their ability to pay.  A grant of $30,000 will be used to provide mental health evaluations and therapeutic treatment sessions for people who are not eligible for victim grants and who are uninsured.

A grant of $40,000 was awarded to the Frederick County Hepatitis Clinic, Inc., for its “Hepatitis Screening, Evaluation and Treatment Program.”  The funds will be used to provide free hepatitis screening at local organizations and provide comprehensive care to uninsured, underinsured and working poor individuals infected with viral hepatitis.

For Help and Outreach Point of Entry in Salisbury, Maryland, $45,000 will support the Health Outreach Ministry which serves approximately 2,500 to 3,000 clients who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The organization attends to the social and medical needs of their clients, and operates a clinic that provides flu shots, tuberculosis testing, and blood pressure screening.

The Maryland Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped will receive $40,000 to support the Donated Dental Services Program, which provides pro bono dental care for indigent, disabled Maryland residents.  Approximately 660 patients will receive dental care worth approximately $1.2 million dollars.  For every dollar invested in the program, patients receive over $7 in donated dental services.

A grant of $50,000 was awarded to the Peninsula Regional Medical Center Foundation for “Improving Outcomes of the Local High Risk Renal Population through the Use of Incentives”.  Appropriate incentives are linked to measureable outcomes that are directly related to slowing the progression of the disease.  Incentives encourage compliance with treatment programs, thereby reducing healthcare costs.

Salisbury University will receive $20,000 for the Lower Shore Early Intervention Program which addresses behavioral and developmental concerns exhibited in childcare settings which impact the child’s functioning.  The funds will be used for the Visiting Intervention portion of the program and will provide consultative services to families and children with behavioral and mental health needs who are not enrolled in licensed daycare programs.

A grant of $20,000 was awarded to the Talbot Partnership for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention for its “Heroin, Prescription, and Synthetic Drug Prevention Program”.  The program focuses on prevention and early intervention from the new risks from heroin, prescription drug abuse and synthetic drugs.  For every $1 invested in the program, $2 to $10 will be saved in health costs, criminal and juvenile justice costs, educational costs, lost productivity and other costs.

Since 2006, Quality Health Foundation has awarded grants totaling more than $3.25 million to 53 organizations in Maryland and the District of Columbia.

PHOTOS:

#1: Pictured left to right are representatives from Channel Marker, Inc. who received a 2014-2015 Quality Health Foundation Grant: Jeffrey Turner, Vice Chair, Quality Health Strategies; Cathy Cassell, Program Director, Channel Marker, Inc.; and Molly Burgoyne, MD, Co-Chair, Quality Health Foundation.

#2: Pictured left to right are representatives from For All Seasons, Inc. who received a 2014-2015 Quality Health Foundation Grant:  Jeffrey Turner, Vice Chair, Quality Health Strategies; Beth Anne Langrell, Interim Executive Director, For All Seasons, Inc.; Karen Twigg, Vice President, For All Seasons, Inc.; and Molly Burgoyne, MD, Co- Chair, Quality Health Foundation.

#3: Pictured left to right are representatives from Talbot Partnership for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention who received a 2014-2015 Quality Health Foundation Grant:  Jeffrey Turner, Vice Chair, Quality Health Strategies; Gary Pearce, Executive Director, Talbot Partnership; and Molly Burgoyne, MD, Co-Chair, Quality Health Foundation.