Blue Shield of California Foundation Unveils New Strategic Support for Community Clinics
Nearly $7 million in new grants will provide core operating support and provide help for clinics’ transformation under health reform
San Francisco, March 16, 2011 — Blue Shield of California Foundation (BSCF) today announced new investments of nearly $7 million to strengthen California’s network of community clinics and enable them to provide high quality care for millions of Californians under health reform.
The majority of the new funding will provide core support to clinics serving uninsured Californians while additional grants will help a cadre of high-performing clinics prepare to successfully navigate the evolving health care environment. These grants build upon the Foundation’s long-standing work with community clinics, such as the Clinic Leadership Institute, a signature project of the Foundation, building leadership skills of the next generation of community clinic executives, which recently announced its fourth cohort of 25 participants.
“Today millions of Californians depend on community clinics for their care,” said Peter Long, Ph.D., president and CEO of BSCF. “Our Foundation’s strategy is to back clinics’ current efforts while also supporting their bold steps to transform and seize the opportunities presented by health reform.”
More than 200 licensed community, free, and tribal clinics provide health services to California’s most vulnerable populations at over 800 sites throughout the state. These clinics provide services to nearly 3 million patients each year, many of whom are uninsured or underinsured. Since 2003, when BSCF launched the Clinic Core Support Initiative, the Foundation has invested over $47 million in clinics statewide.
The implementation of federal health reform and the state’s Section 1115 Medi-Cal waiver will have a tremendous impact on the healthcare programs serving low-income Californians – and on the community clinics and other safety-net institutions that meet the healthcare needs of that population. Under the health reform law, as many as 3.4 million Californians will gain insurance in 2014.
“Blue Shield of California Foundation’s support for community clinics and health centers is helping them transform and adapt to the opportunities presented by health reform,” added Carmela Castellano-Garcia, president and CEO of the California Primary Care Association. “Community clinics and health centers will have a big role in ensuring that vulnerable Californians get the high quality care they need both today and in the future.”
The specifics on the new grants supporting community clinics are:
Core Support to Community Clinics
Up to $5 million to provide core support funding to licensed community, free, and tribal clinics to meet the immediate healthcare needs of uninsured Californians. The goal of this funding to provide flexible funds for these safety net providers to “keep the doors open and the lights on,” as well as to increase access to primary healthcare services for uninsured Californians.
Tides Center
$1.8 million to help California’s top-performing community clinics position themselves as innovators in the field and as high-performing in a post-health reform marketplace. This work will complement a recent grant to the UCSF Center for the Health Professions to develop operational, financial, and clinical indicators of clinic performance.
Shasta Community Health Center
$138,000 to evaluate the use of electronic medical record (EMR) scribes to foster the effective use of EMRs in clinics. EMR scribes are trained personnel that assist clinicians in recording patient encounters and documenting relevant medical information in the EMR.
About Blue Shield of California Foundation
Blue Shield of California Foundation is one of the state’s largest healthcare grantmaking organizations. Visit: www.blueshieldcafoundation.org.
The Foundation was formed by Blue Shield of California, a not-for-profit corporation with more than 3.4 million members, 4,800 employees, and 20 offices throughout California. Visit: www.blueshieldca.com.