STATEMENT OF RECORD RELEASE
June 15, 2020
Contact:
For Public Health Management Corporation
Emily Charles, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Public Health Management Corporation Receives Emergency Grant from Direct Relief
COVID-19 emergency funds will support PHMC’s federally qualified health centers in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA – Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), a nonprofit public health institute that creates and sustains healthier communities, has been awarded $50,000 in emergency grant funding from the medical aid organization Direct Relief, in partnership with the National Association of Community Health Centers. The emergency operating grant will help offset costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic at the five nurse-managed, federally qualified health centers in the PHMC Health Network in Philadelphia.
PHMC was among 518 federally qualified health centers across the country to receive funding through Direct Relief’s $25 million Covid-19 Fund for Community Health, which recognizes the profound effects of the pandemic on the finances, services, staff, and patients of community health centers. PHMC will use the funds to help expand access to COVID-19 testing for low-income, under-insured, and uninsured individuals through its health centers.
“Across our network of federally qualified health centers and throughout all PHMC programs and services, we’ve enhanced and expanded in ways to address the challenges posed by COVID-19 and ensure our communities continue to receive the care they need,” said Richard J. Cohen, President and CEO of PHMC. “This crisis has disproportionally impacted our nation’s most vulnerable. We can’t thank Direct Relief and the National Association of Community Health Centers enough for their support as we greatly expand testing and telehealth offerings and provide essential health care services to children and adults across the city.”
“Access to primary care is what keeps people healthy and out of the hospital, and the frontline work of PHMC and other nonprofit community health centers across the U.S. is more critical than ever with the onset of COVID-19,” said Direct Relief President and CEO Thomas Tighe. “Direct Relief is doing everything possible to bolster the work and support the staffs at the safety-net health facilities on which so many patients and their families rely for excellent care and trust for advice in this public health emergency.”
Nearly 30 million (one in 12) of the country’s most vulnerable residents – including one in three individuals living in poverty, one in five Medicaid beneficiaries, and one in nine children – rely on federally qualified health centers like the PHMC Health Network for their health care. That number is expected to rise as more and more individuals lose employer-sponsored insurance.
“We are grateful for this critical and immediate support as Community Health Centers work hard to keep communities safe during an unprecedented pandemic,” said Tom Van Coverden, President & CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). “We are also deeply appreciative of our longstanding partnership with Direct Relief in these uncertain times and their efforts to ensure that health centers confronting multiple challenges in underserved communities have the resources when and where they need them. We know that many donors and contributors have helped to make this fund possible, and we further extend our appreciation to all of them.”
Direct Relief is a humanitarian aid organization, active in all 50 states and more than 80 countries, with a mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies – without regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay. Direct Relief established the Covid-19 Fund for Community Health to support safety-net health workers serving America’s most vulnerable communities.
PHMC currently operates five federally qualified health centers in Philadelphia, including Congreso Health Center, Mary Howard Health Center, PHMC Care Clinic, PHMC Health Connection, and Rising Sun Health Center. For more information on PHMC, its programs and services, please visit www.phmc.org.
About PHMC
Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) is a nonprofit public health institute that creates and sustains healthier communities. PHMC uses best practices and evidence-based guidelines to improve community health through direct service, partnership, innovation, policy, research, technical assistance and a prepared workforce. PHMC has served the region since 1972. For more information on PHMC, visit www.phmc.org.
About PHMC Health Network
The PHMC Health Network consists of five nurse-managed, federally qualified health centers offering affordable, high-quality, patient centered health services to communities throughout the Philadelphia area, including public housing populations and individuals experiencing homelessness. They share a simple mission: to provide high-quality, comprehensive primary health care, family planning, disease prevention and management, behavioral care, substance-use disorder treatment, social services and more to men, women and children. These nurse-managed health centers serve as a medical home and safety-net provider for America’s underserved communities, regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. Three locations have certification by the National Centers for Quality Assurance as a Patient Centered Medical Home. For more information visit www.phmc.organd www.phmchealthnetwork.org.
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