Blue Shield of California Foundation Awards $16M in Grants
The Blue Shield of California Foundation on Monday announced $16 million in grants to not-for-profit organizations statewide, specifically targeting efforts to improve health care access, advance medical technology and prevent domestic violence, the Sacramento Bee reports (Milbourn, Sacramento Bee, 10/4).
The foundation awarded $5 million to the Children's Health Initiative of Greater Los Angeles to help provide health care coverage for low-income children in Los Angeles County.
The Health Technology Center in San Francisco received a $1 million grant to help fund efforts to improve health care quality using information technology applications (Blue Shield Foundation release, 10/3).
The Sacramento-based California Telemedicine and eHealth Center received a $1 million grant to fund an effort to use technology to provide care for rural and underserved areas, CTEC Executive Director Barbara Johnston said.
Robin Affrime, executive director of CommuniCare Health Centers in Yolo County, said a $50,000 grant from the foundation will go toward covering the cost of providing care to 22,000 low-income patients who see the clinics each year.
Carmela Castellano-Garcia, CEO of the California Primary Care Association, said her group will use part of its $60,000 grant to research legal issues related to community clinics.
In addition, the California Medical Association Foundation received $298,000 to fund educational outreach programs addressing diabetes, and the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California received $100,000, which it will use for health policy research (Sacramento Bee, 10/4).