PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Independence Blue Cross today announced that it will provide $300,000 over a three-year period to two ChesPenn clinics in Chester - ChesPenn Health Services and ChesPenn Eastside Health Center - as part of its Charitable Medical Care Grant Program. ChesPenn plans to utilize the grant money to provide for prescription drugs and lab services, and to treat more uninsured patients.
IBC’s Charitable Medical Care Grant Program provides financial support to non-profit, privately funded clinics in southeastern Pennsylvania who provide free or low-cost care to the area’s uninsured. To date, IBC has dedicated over $4 million to 22 clinics over a three-year period, in an effort to support quality care that ultimately reduces the number of uninsured individuals who require treatment at area hospitals.
There has been a 15 percent increase in the number of patients that come to ChesPenn since Eastside Health Center opened in September 2004, just a few miles away from Health Services for Family Health at Community Hospital. The ChesPenn clinics see more than 10,000 patients each year, the majority of them children. About 85 percent of the clinic’s patients are at or below federal poverty level, 22 percent have no health insurance, and some patients have no homes.
“By serving those that are most vulnerable, ChesPenn helps their patients build better lives and allows them to become contributors to our community’s economic growth,” said IBC President and CEO Joseph A. Frick. “We’re delighted to help ChesPenn through the Charitable Medical Care Grant Program, and we continue to be impressed by the work that clinics like ChesPenn do to support the health of the region by allowing their patients to focus on the future and improve their lives.”
On Wednesday, October 5, at 11 a.m., Frick will visit the ChesPenn clinic, located at 125 East 9th Street in Chester. He will present Executive Director Robert Smith with a plaque recognizing ChesPenn’s remarkable service for the uninsured and congratulate the clinic on being awarded a Charitable Medical Grant from Independence Blue Cross.
“The need for a health center in this area is very high,” says Smith. “We are now seeing more patients from surrounding areas such as Aston, Marcus Hook, Ridley Park and even Darby.”
ChesPenn prides itself on quality care for each and every patient. As a result, each visit includes an in-depth consultation with a health care provider, on-site medication provisions and, if needed, a consultation with a social worker. ChesPenn found a way to save patients time by ensuring all paperwork, translators, and other needed services are ready ahead of time. Not only does ChesPenn offer one-stop health care - in-house medication dispensary with a dispensary technician, dental offices and transportation to specialists - but health care providers at ChesPenn treat more than just the disease.
“We see the whole person,” explains Donna Radosh, R.N., a nurse at ChesPenn. “If a patient comes here with a sore throat, we also look into his situation, his background, and even if he can obtain the needed medication that the doctor prescribes.”
About ChesPenn Health Services
ChesPenn is a private, non-profit corporation that has been serving the community since 1973. It was organized by a concerned group of citizens to provide low-cost medical services in the community of Chester and surrounding Delaware County. It operates a multi-site primary care program that offers medical care, dental services, community outreach, social services, family planning, medication dispensary, lab services, HIV/AIDS outreach, educational counseling and referral and health care for the homeless. Serving more than 12,000 patients each year, ChesPenn is committed to its mission of providing quality medical and dental services to members of the community.
ChesPenn Health Services is a federally qualified health center that provides low-cost health care services to the people of Delaware County. ChesPenn operates two clinics in Chester and one in Coatesville.
About Independence Blue Cross
Independence Blue Cross is the leading health insurer in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Nationwide, IBC and its affiliates provide coverage to nearly 3.5 million people. For more than 65 years Independence Blue Cross has offered quality health care products and services tailored to meet the changing needs of members, employers, groups and providers.
In September 2005, Independence Blue Cross’s Personal Choice was rated the No. 1 PPO in the nation and its Keystone HMO was ranked the No. 1 HMO in the region by health care consumers in a leading independent consumer magazine.
Independence Blue Cross
CONTACT: Liz Williams, Independence Blue Cross, +1-215-241-2220; orColleen DiClaudio, ChesPenn Health Services, +1-610-485-3800
