One of the nation’s largest healthcare IT companies has pledged $2 million to help develop school-based healthcare centers in rural Louisiana.
The GE Foundation, the philanthropic arm of GE, announced the grant Tuesday to the Louisiana Public Health Institute, which will use the money to underwrite a program led by the School Health Connection in Orleans Parish, La., to launch school-based health centers.
Five years after Hurricane Katrina, Orleans Parish is still working to stabilize access to healthcare for its residents and 38,000 students. LPHI officials say the grant, combined with other investments, will go toward health centers that provide comprehensive preventive, primary care and primary mental health services for enrolled school students.
Officials say the school-based health centers will also serve as a model for the community health center concept, as well as providing medical services for students who would normally delay or avoid needed medical care or seek care at overcrowded emergency rooms.
“This great partnership and grant funding will provide primary care access to a largely underserved population in the schools in Orleans Parish,” said Joseph Kimbrell, the LPHI’s CEO. “With each new school-based health center, we are helping to shape the future of healthcare delivery in New Orleans.”
The grant is being issued through GE’s Developing Health program, a three-year, $25 million program designed to improve access to primary care in targeted underserved areas throughout the United States. The program is aligned with GE’s healthymagination initiative, which was launched in May of 2009 with the goal of spending $3 billion over six years on healthcare innovations designed to improve care deliver to more people at a lower cost.
“The Developing Heath program seeks to help fill the gap for access to quality care in underserved communities,” said Bob Corcoran, president of the GE Foundation. “This specific grant to Orleans Parish will expand access to preventive, primary care and primary mental health services for adolescents in the area. The Louisiana Public Health Institute is well positioned to expand the school-based health center network in Orleans Parish to meet the primary health needs of students and community members.”
“When we launched healthymagination, GE made a commitment to offer meaningful solutions that address some of today's greatest health challenges: high costs, persistent quality issues and inadequate access,” added Mike Barber, vice president of GE’s healthymagination initiative. “Our commitment extends to providing solutions to the nation's most critical health needs in partnership with key health agencies, such as the Louisiana Public Health Institute. We believe this partnership, through Developing Health, will help advance our overall goal of delivering better health to more people in New Orleans.”