Blue Shield of California Foundation Makes $9M in Q1 Grants
 
March 22, 2011
By Chris Rauber

Blue Shield of California Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the huge San Francisco health plan, said Tuesday it’s making more than $9 million in first quarter grants to support safety net services, improve access to health care, and fight domestic violence.

“We have an ambitious agenda in California,” acknowledged Peter Long, the foundation’s president and CEO.

Of the $9 million in first quarter funding, $5 million is core support for community clinics in the state, roughly $1.9 million goes to the San Francisco-based Tides Center for various projects, and $1.125 million goes to a statewide network of centers working to end domestic violence.

Specific Q1 grants include:

- $1.8 million to the Tides Center to help community clinics innovate and prepare for the post health reform marketplace, and $125,000 to the Tides Center/the Children’s Partnership to develop plans to redesign public health care eligibility and enrollment systems.
- $233,000 to the Regents of the University of California to support safety net and health reform research.
- $200,000 to help counties modernize their Medi-Cal and related enrollment and eligibility systems for low-income residents.
- $175,000 to Project Hope to support a series of papers in Health Affairs that will promote understanding of key health reform implementation issues affecting California, particularly safety net providers.
- $138,000 to Shasta Community Health Center to assess the impacts of electronic medical record in community health centers.
- $300,000 to TechSoup Global to build information technology to assist entities working to end domestic violence in the state.
- $1.125 million to the National Family Justice Center Initiative to support the California Family Justice Initiative, a statewide network of domestic violence-focused service centers.
- $50,000 to to support a national celebrity Public Service Announcement campaign to promote wellness and prevent violence in military and veteran families.

Last year, the Blue Shield foundation made $22 million in grants all told, including $4.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. The Q4 tally included $1.6 million to help expand coverage for the uninsured and $1.47 million to help 11 community clinic groups integrate services, among other programs.