GENESEO — The CVS Health Foundation in partnership with the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics (NAFC) awarded a $10,000 grant to the Geneseo Parish Outreach Center, Inc., to provide medical care to uninsured patients.
The grant will allow the organization to provide preventative care and health counseling to help patients with diabetes better manage their condition.
“Diabetes affects many of our patients and can be difficult to manage because it requires ongoing medical care and counseling to ensure lifestyle changes and medications are recommended and adhered to,” said Donna Flaherty, Executive Director of the Geneseo Parish Outreach Center. “As the only clinic providing free or low-cost medical services in this multi-county rural area, this grant will allow the Geneseo Parish Outreach Center to provide the same quality diabetic care to patients in need.”
According to a press release , the Geneseo Parish Outreach Center is one of 49 free clinics across the country receiving funding as part of the Foundation’s ongoing effort to make quality healthcare convenient and affordable for more Americans. With this funding, the Geneseo Parish Outreach Center will ensure comprehensive diabetic preventative care for 25 of its patients, including A1C testing, annual eye exams, annual preventative dental care, semi-annual podiatry checkups, cholesterol and urine micro albumin screening. Patients will also receive diabetic health counseling to help them maintain their care regimen. A health insurance navigator will be available to help patients identify funding options, so their future healthcare and diabetic preventative services are covered.
“The rising cost of healthcare can make finding quality and affordable care harder to come by for many Americans,” said Eileen Howard Boone, president of the CVS Health Foundation. “Through our support of the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics, we’re able to increase access to quality care, improve chronic disease management and care coordination to help improve health outcomes for the most vulnerable patients and reduce health care costs in the communities we serve.”
To date, CVS Health and its Foundation have contributed nearly $1.7 million consisting of grants, event sponsorships, foundation scholarships, gift cards and product donations, among other initiatives and items, to nonprofits in the state of New York that align with CVS Health’s purpose of helping people on their path to better health.