Regence Foundation Awards Nearly $250,000 In Grants To Northwest Nonprofits

Grants To Support Innovative, Collaborative Programs That Improve Healthcare Quality And Access

September 1, 2009

PORTLAND— The Regence Foundation announced today $246,500 in grants for four Northwest nonprofits: HealthMatters of Central Oregon, WithinReach , Critical Access Hospital Network and Northwest Organization of Nurse Executives. The grants all support nonprofit programs with innovative plans to improve quality of care and increase access to care.

"At The Regence Foundation, our mission is to support health care transformation by partnering with nonprofits working to fix the root causes of our broken health care system, specifically as it relates to quality and access," said Michael Alexander, Regence Foundation board chair. "We commend these grantees for their commitment to ensuring the community has access to quality, affordable care close to home."

HealthMatters of Central Oregon (Bend, OR): $78,500 to fund its Care Coordination Pathways initiative, which will establish a Medical Home pilot program for area children, especially those with special health needs. A Medical Home is an approach to care that can improve quality, cost-effectiveness and patient satisfaction.

• WithinReach (Seattle, WA): $75,000 to expand the number of programs available on its ParentHelp123.org website. The site helps families apply for federal- and state-sponsored programs and local services including free or low-cost health insurance. It also locates critical help such as food banks and other local resources.
• Critical Access Hospital Network (Newport, WA): $43,000 to develop new protocols for caring for rural patients with cardiovascular disease and congestive heart failure  – two of the leading causes of death for Washingtonians. The goals of the new protocols are to improve patient outcomes and prevent avoidable hospitalizations among rural Eastern Washington residents with these chronic conditions.
• Northwest Organization of Nurse Executives (Seattle, WA): $50,000 challenge grant to support its Transforming In-patient Care pilot program. The program, which is in partnership with the Washington State Hospital Association, will redesign the way nurses work hospitals to increase the amount of time they spend with patients and help ease the nursing shortage.

For more information about The Regence Foundation, please visit www.regencefoundation.org.

About The Regence Foundation
The Regence Foundation is the corporate foundation of The Regence Group, the largest health insurer in the Northwest/Intermountain region and a not-for-profit independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. A 501(c)3 grantmaking organization, the Foundation partners with organizations driving significant change in health care delivery and accessibility in Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington.