BlueCross awards final grants for 2005 - Tri-State Defender

Tri-State Defender
12-28-2005
In its third and final cycle of funding for 2005, the BlueCross BlueShield
of Tennessee Health Foundation awarded $483,000 in grants to help the
state's uninsured, bringing total giving to $1.2 million for the
foundation's first year of outreach.

The uninsured funding focus provided help to 10 volunteer-based health
centers, which deliver direct care at free or reduced costs to the state's
under- and uninsured. The 10 clinics included Church Health Center of
Memphis, Inc., Faith Family Medical Clinic (Nashville), Helping Hands
Clinic (Morristown), InterFaith Health Clinic (Knoxville), Mountain Hope
Good Shepherd Clinic, Inc. (Sevierville), NAMI Tennessee (Nashville),
Partners for Healing (Tullahoma), Salvus Center, Inc. (Gallatin), Siloam
Family Health Center (Nashville), and Volunteers In Medicine, Chattanooga,
Inc.

In total, the clinics provide annual care to more than 60,000 of the
estimated 828,000 uninsured Tennesseans. Nationwide that figure was 45.8
million people in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Foundation funding will support a variety of efforts including medical,
dental and eye care, education programs, counseling, staff additions and
expanded operating hours.

The final cycle of Tennessee Health Foundation grants complemented earlier
efforts of the Blue-Cross BlueShield of Tennessee Community Trust, which
hosted the first annual Uninsured Best Practices Forum in Memphis during
April 2005. Many of the 10 volunteer health clinic grantees sent
representatives to this free and informative event where nearly 100
statewide participants came together to explore options and seek solutions
for the uninsured.

Article copyright Tri-State Defender Publishing, Inc.
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