PROVIDENCE – More than a year after the creation of the $20 million Fund for a Healthy Rhode Island, Rhode Island Foundation President and CEO Neil Steinberg today announced that the fund’s grantmaking will focus on primary care.
The Healthy Rhode Island fund is a Rhode Island Foundation endowment financed by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI). It was established by BCBSRI as part of its settlement with the U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island over the insurer’s part in the “Operation Dollar Bill” scandal (READ MORE).
Steinberg said – in a joint public announcement with U.S. Attorney Robert Clark Corrente – that distribution of grant money from the fund would likely begin in the second quarter of this year.
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“More than $800,000 will be available for distribution in year one,” said Steinberg, adding: “We anticipate that a robust, competitive application process will generate a number of innovative ideas to expand access to and affordability of primary care in the Ocean State.”
Blue Cross had contributed $20 million to create the fund last February, but the turmoil in the financial markets over the past year has dropped the value of the fund to $15 million as of Dec. 31.
The Fund for a Healthy Rhode Island will look to help primary care in the state in two ways, the Rhode Island Foundation said:
• Three-quarters of the yearly grant money will be split in three specific areas – the creation of new approaches to improve access to primary care for working families, the creation of new ways for affordable medications to reach patients, and the development of education and outreach. Grants will range from $50,000 and $250,000 and can be given over multiple years.
• The rest of the grants will go toward creating a program that helps medical professionals from doctors to nurses to case workers and others with paying off educational loans in exchange for them going into primary care.
“We need to support the development of a comprehensive system of primary care in Rhode Island,” Steinberg said. “Local experts and stakeholders we consulted underscored this need, citing shortages of primary care providers, and lack of adequate resources to help patients manage chronic conditions like diabetes or asthma.”
In addition to making public the fund’s objectives, Steinberg announced a $100,000 grant from the Rhode Island Foundation to be shared equally by Coastal Medical, the Rhode Island Free Clinic, The Molar Express and the Rhode Island Health Center Association. He added, “We recognize that these are trying times, and we take seriously our responsibility as the only community foundation serving Rhode Island.”
The Rhode Island Foundation, founded in 1916, is one of the nation’s largest and oldest charitable organizations serving a specific geographic community. To learn more about the foundation or its programs, visit www.RIFoundation.org.
