MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The GE Foundation - the philanthropic organization of GE - announced today a $3 million grant to Health Choice Network of Florida (HCNFL), as part of the Company’s Developing Health™ program. This grant will establish a Care Management Medical Home Center for 10,000 Miami Dade patients suffering from chronic diabetes and its costly and debilitating side effects. This is the largest such donation and marks the two-year anniversary of the U.S. program.
Developing Health™ is a multi-year, $50 million program that aims to improve access to primary care in targeted underserved communities across the country. Designed and launched in New York City in October 2009, the program has expanded to 17 cities and has donated a total of $17.25 million, impacting over 650,000 lives. The program aligns with GE’s healthymagination initiative, a commitment to lower costs, improve quality and increase access in healthcare.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of diabetes among adults age 18 and over in Miami-Dade County is 11.4%, compared to 8.3% in the United States. Miami-Dade leads the state of Florida with the highest number of uninsured people and second highest in percentage – over 600,000 and 30.2%, according to the US Census Bureau.
“The GE Foundation has a long history of helping underserved communities, like Miami where the number of people living with diabetes exceeds the national average,” said Jeff Immelt, CEO and Chairman, GE. “With this grant, we’re proud to break down the barriers to cost, quality and access so we can reduce the suffering of families dealing with this chronic and too often debilitating disease.”
The financial and human costs of chronic diseases cannot be ignored. According to the CDC, chronic diseases account for $3 of every $4 spent on healthcare, reaching nearly $7,900 for every American with a chronic disease. In addition, the CDC reports that chronic diseases are the cause of seven out of every 10 deaths.
“This specific grant to Health Choice Network of Florida will remove barriers that traditionally impede effective treatment of chronic diseases in Miami Dade’s communities by establishing a coordinated, long-term relationship, focused on prevention,” said Bob Corcoran, president, GE Foundation. “Health Choice Network of Florida is a model of successful collaboration among community health centers and its medical home model has emerged as a promising alternative to the nation’s fragmented health system.”
The $3 million grant from the GE Foundation will enable Health Choice Network of Florida and its seven participating health centers to provide a centralized model staffed with medical professionals who will assist the health center teams in providing high quality, effective and efficient care management services that will decrease costly hospitalizations and emergency room visits. In addition to the new jobs the funding will add, the Center will leverage existing data warehouse infrastructure and electronic medical records to deploy real-time disease specific patient panels, identify health trends and expects to improve diabetic patient outcomes by 10 to 20 percent in the first year.
“This partnership is a huge step forward for Health Choice Network and its Miami Dade member health centers,” said HCN President and CEO Kevin Kearns. “More important is the beneficial impact this generous funding will create for so many South Florida patients struggling with diabetes.”
Health Choice Network of Florida members serve more than half a million patients at 25 centers across Florida. A majority of the targeted patients have little or no health insurance and receive their primary care at seven federally-qualified centers in Miami Dade. The federally qualified health centers participating in the Care Management Medical Home Center are Borinquen Medical Centers of Miami Dade, Camillus Health Concern, Citrus Health Network, Community Health of South Florida, Helen B. Bentley Family health Center, Jessie Trice Community Health Center and Miami Beach Community Health Center. If successful, the Center could expand to include other chronic diseases.
Developing Health™, which is modeled after GE’s successful philanthropic
program Developing Health Globally™ is a partnership between GE
Corporate Citizenship and the GE Corporate Diversity Council. The
program builds on the success GE’s existing Developing Health Globally
(DHG) program. Launched in Africa in 2004, this philanthropic program
now extends to 14 countries across Africa, Latin America and Southeast
Asia. DHG aims to improve healthcare for some of the world’s most
vulnerable populations. DHG uses GE core competencies including
technology, expertise and employee engagement to provide sustainable
“enterprise solutions” that address some of the critical gaps that exist
in developing-world healthcare facilities. For more information on
Developing Health Globally, visit:
http://www.ge.com/citizenship/performance_areas/communities_philanthropy_health.jsp.
For more information on Developing Health visit:
http://www.ge.com/foundation/developing_health.jsp.
About Health Choice Network of Florida
Founded in 1994, Health Choice Network of Florida (HCNFL) is a model of successful collaboration among community health centers. As a Health Center Controlled Network, it is a not-for-profit organization governed by a Board comprised of its members. Network members serve nearly half a million patients, many without health insurance. By providing the tools to strengthen our members and partners, Health Choice Network Florida improves the lives of the underserved and vulnerable in our communities.
Mission
To provide high quality service, support and expertise to member organizations and to act as a vehicle for strategic efforts that strengthen our community health partners.
About the GE Foundation
The GE Foundation, the philanthropic organization of the General Electric Company, works to solve some of the world’s most difficult problems. In coordination with its partners, it supports U.S. and international education, developing health globally, the environment, public policy, human rights and disaster relief. In addition, the GE Foundation supports GE employee and retiree giving and involvement in GE communities around the world. In 2009, the entire GE family — including businesses, employees, retirees and GE Foundation — contributed more than an estimated $220 million to community and educational programs, including more than $100 million from GE Foundation. For more information, visit www.gefoundation.com.
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com.
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