RELEASE
Local Organizations Receive More Than $600,000 in Grants to Improve Health Care in Michigan
by Brianna Neace
| 2 min read
DETROIT, June 20, 2017— The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation awarded a total of more than $600,000 to support research and community programs that identify and address critical issues affecting the health of Michigan residents. “These grant recipients are affecting positive change across a wide range of under-served communities throughout our state, from addressing the growing opioid epidemic to the need for behavioral health services for veteran families,” said Audrey Harvey, vice president and CEO of the BCBSM Foundation. The grants offered by the Blue Cross Foundation are categorized to allow for a variety of applicants and ideas, including:
- Community Health Matching Program: Community-based nonprofit organizations in Michigan will use these grants to develop, test or validate new techniques and programs to address the needs of its community members and produce a tangible effect in their lives.
- Physician Investigator Initiated Programs: Michigan researchers will use these grants to turn theory into data, and data into knowledge. These grantees often go on to be published in scholarly journalists, academic circles and community platforms that inform and shape future thought and improvement.
- Physician Investigator Research Award Program: Michigan physicians will use these grants to support their studies to address unmet health needs and unsatisfactory medical practices to improve the delivery and quality of patient care.
The Blue Cross Foundation gives nearly $2 million each year in grants to research quality, cost and access to health care. The funding spans the state, from the Metro Detroit area to the communities of the Upper Peninsula. None of the money came from the premium payments of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan members. The Foundation was created in 1980 with $800,000 in seed money, which has since grown to approximately $60 million in assets with no further contributions. An overview of the recipients of the BCBSM Foundation grants is below:
| Community Health Matching Program | Total funding: $367,000 |
|---|---|
| National Association of the Mentally Ill NAMI Michigan Homefront Program $21,000 | Statewide |
| Home of New Vision – University of Michigan School of Nursing ACT NOW: Naloxone Training for Law Enforcement Officers $50,000 | Ann Arbor, Mich. |
| Michigan State Medical Society Foundation 21st Annual Michigan State Medical Society Foundation on Ethical Issues in Medicine $36,000 | Lansing, Mich. |
| Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center LGBTQ Learning Labs: HealthCare Professional Training $35,000 | Detroit, Mich. |
| Starfish Family Services Starfish Family Services Head Start Trauma $50,000 | Wayne County |
| YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit Healthy Hearts-Blood Pressure Self-Monitoring Program $50,000 | Detroit, Mich. |
| Clark Retirement Community, Inc. Grand Montessori for Aging and Dementia — A Demonstration Project $50,000 | Rapids, Mich. |
| CentraCare Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) Extended Community Respite Options $50,000 | Battle Creek, Mich |
| Focus: HOPE Doula and Breast Feeding Services $25,000 | Detroit, Mich. |
| Investigator Initiated Program | Total funding: $232,000 |
|---|---|
| Division of General Internal Medicine – University of Michigan Physician-Pharmacist Collaborative to Enhance Safe Opioid and Buprenorphine Prescribing $75,000 | Ann Arbor, Mich. |
| St. Joseph Mercy An Assessment of Enhanced Recovery Pathway Interventions Designed to Decrease Readmissions and ED Visits After Colorectal Surgery $82,000 | Ann Arbor, Mich. |
| Department of Emergency – Wayne State University Improving Outcomes and Follow-Up of Low Risk Chest Pain Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) $75,000 | Detroit, Mich. |
| Physician Investigator Initiated Program | Total funding: $20,000 |
|---|---|
| University of Michigan Understanding Family Distress in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) $10,000 | Ann Arbor, Mich. |
| Department of Anesthesiology — University of Michigan Lung Protective Ventilation in Elective Cardiac Surgery $10,000 | Ann Arbor, Mich. |
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit mutual insurance company, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation, a nonprofit corporation, are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more company information, visit bcbsm.com and MiBluesPerspectives.com.
