Grant Partners

Community Health Center of Franklin County will provide a continuum of eligibility, enrollment and review services, resource referrals to primary care, and case management.  They will educate consumers on how to navigate health coverage and care systems through computer access, including the Health Information Exchange.  Educational materials will be developed for patients to take a more active role in their health coverage and care.  

To hire a grantwriter.  

Ecu-Health Care will continue its education and marketing campaign, and provide enrollment and renewal assistance on public health insurance programs.  They will train and educate applicants on navigating the health care system. 

To purchase technology equipment and to train volunteers and staff.  

Whittier Street Health Center will provide eligibility assistance and coordinate care for patients, making referrals within the health center, with other health care providers, and community partners.  They will continue to foster the Building Vibrant Communities program to employ housing development residents as community health workers to assist consumers with their health and social needs.  Community health workers will be trained in patient navigation to equip consumers in connecting with primary care and other social and health services.  

Massachusetts Senior Action Council will advocate for health care access for the over 65 population.  It will advocate for its constituents around growing out-of-pocket costs and affordability, expanding access to community-based long-term care by eliminating disparities in eligibility for personal care attendant services, and ensuring adequate funding for home care.  Finally, the organization will increase awareness of and streamline enrollment for existing senior health care programs.

To purchase six Safari 600 SP and two Chili SP Oticon hearing aids. 

Family Health Center of Worcester will assist uninsured individuals to enroll in and maintain coverage, and connect to a primary care medical home.  They will continue weekly New Patient Orientation/Education Sessions, and expand the use of “I Speak” cards that detail useful information on the health center for patients.  Finally, they will provide individualized education and install computer kiosks for patients to use.

Hilltown Community Health Centers will assist with applications and annual eligibility reviews and connect patients with primary care providers.  They will provide monthly public education sessions on health coverage options for consumers, and adapt their electronic medical record to establish a referral system across departments.  Educational materials will be developed on the changes in the health insurance marketplace.  Finally, they will work with small businesses in the community that may be eligible for health care tax credits through the marketplace. 

Healthy Lives:  Brookline Community Mental Health Center will serve 200 low-income adults living in Brookline or Boston who present with serious mental illness (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, severe anxiety, or PTSD) and at least two chronic medical conditions (including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or COPD).  The health center will engage patients in their care, help them coordinate the services they receive, provide wellness interventions, offer disease management programs, home visits, and individual and group counseling. The intent of the project is to help patients move from passive recipients to active participants in their health care and by doing so, reduce cost and improve quality.

The League will continue monitoring changes in the health care environment, sharing information with health centers, coalition partners, and state entities.  The organization will engage community health center board members to foster active advocacy and policy work to advance adult dental coverage, grow health center pharmacy programs, support the certification of community health workers, and improve health care for homeless people, veterans, and individuals recently released from correctional institutions.

A Collaborative Practice Model for Improving Pediatric Mental Health Value:  The Alliance Foundation for Community Health will develop a new method of identifying youth at risk for low quality/high cost mental health treatment. The sample for this study will be drawn from the 101,000 youth under age 20 insured by Network Health. The project will also look within diagnosis groups to compare treatments and expenditures across race/ethnicity, language, geography, and other characteristics. In the second phase of the effort, the project will identify primary care providers who have the largest number of high-expenditure youth and work with them and families to develop more cost-effective approaches to treatment.

Mercy Medical Center’s Health Care for the Homeless program (Mercy HCH) will collaborate with hospital emergency departments in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties to “re-direct” homeless persons who are “high-end utilizers” of emergency department services to access health care services through Mercy HCH’s clinical team.  Mercy knows the area’s homeless well and has documented cases where individuals are going to emergency rooms more than 20 times per month. Mercy HCH staff will work with these homeless individuals to obtain stable housing and resolve chronic conditions such as substance abuse and mental health issues.  Over the three-year grant period, the five participating hospital emergency departments will “re-direct” 120 homeless individuals to more appropriate care through the program.

To purchase medical equipment.  

Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Lowell will deliver home health care services, self-care education and coaching, and tele-monitoring to high-cost patients identified by the Lowell General Physician Hospital Organization (PHO) and Lowell Community Health Center. The project will serve 100 “high utilizers” in its first year and will triple in size by its third year. Targeted patients will be those diagnosed with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or diabetes. In-home assessment, coaching, and monitoring will be provided to patients who do not qualify for these services under current payment and benefit guidelines because they are not homebound and do not have acute, but rather chronic conditions. The project’s goal is to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of these services.