Investment will fund Broward Community & Family Health Centers’ Engaging Patients Impacting Care program
BROWARD COUNTY, FL — The Humana Foundation, philanthropic arm of Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) for the past 38 years, is investing $415,000 with Broward Community & Family Health Centers (BCFHC) in an effort to address food security via the Engaging Patients Impacting Care (EPIC) project. This investment is part of The Humana Foundation’s Strategic Community Investment Program in Broward County.
“We are extremely honor-ed to have been chosen by The Humana Foundation as a partner for the EPIC project,” said Rosalyn Frazier, CEO, Broward Community & Family Health Centers. “This investment will provide us with adequate resources to educate, screen, intervene and empower our patient population who are food insecure and impacted by social isolation. It is consistent with our mission and focus on preventive care and health education to promote healthier lifestyles in the communities we serve.”
BCFHC will use the in-vestment to integrate a social determinants of health screening into its operation with the goal of improving food security, chronic disease and social connection of their health center patients. The EPIC program will help patients apply for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, help people access healthy foods via a produce prescription program, and make referrals to other local resources to support their food security and social connectedness. Throughout the EPIC project, BCFHC will measure improvements in patient’s food security, health and social connection.
The Humana Foundation began partnering with Broward Country organizations in 2018, initially investing $540,000 with the AARP Foundation to improve food security for older adults and their families in the local community. Together, AARP Foundation, BCFHC and other local partners linked more than 700 food insecure patients to SNAP benefits, fresh produce and nutrition education last year. The Humana Foundation’s investment with BCFHC is an evolution of that initial partnership and a continuation of the Foundation’s work to address food security in Broward County.
The Humana Foundation’s Strategic Community Investment Program
Through partnerships with local organizations and community members, The Humana Foundation’s Strategic Community Investment Program creates measurable results in some of the most common social determinants of health, including post-secondary attainment and sustaining employment, social connectedness, financial asset security and food security. These investments are in Humana ‘Bold Goal’ communities, places where Humana and The Humana Foundation are working to help people improve their health 20 percent by 2020 and beyond.
In the first year of the Strategic Community Investment Program, The Humana Foundation invested $7 million in seven communities and funded programs that served more than 16,000 individuals and their families, addressing one or more social determinant of health. Each of these seven communities will receive continued or expanded Humana Foundation investments based on the measurable results each program attained in its first year. The Humana Foundation is also undertaking two new Strategic Community Investments in New Orleans, funding two organizations for a total of $1 million.
The Humana Foundation’s continuing and expanded Strategic Community Investments include the following locations: Baton Rouge, La., Broward County, Fla., Jacksonville, Fla.; Knoxville, Tenn., Louisville, Ky., New Orleans, San Antonio and Tampa.
Each organization that receives a Humana Foundation Strategic Community Investment can receive continued funding for up to three years based on the specifics results achieved in their programs
For more information on specific investment results, visit the Strategic Community Investment page HumanaFoundation.org.
“The Humana Foundation’s Strategic Community Investments holistically address social determinants of health locally, working to close measurable gaps in health outcomes,” said Walter D. Woods, CEO of The Humana Foundation. “Our relationships and partnerships in Broward County are beginning to create meaningful, sustainable change. I look forward to the positive results we’ll achieve in the coming year with Broward Community & Family Health Centers.”
Broward Community & Family Health Centers (BCFHC) is the oldest federally qualified health center (FQHC) in the county, providing primary, behavioral, and oral health services to the County’s poorest and most marginalized residents. For 22 years, BCFHC has provided uninterrupted services to improve the health and well-being of the communities in Broward County by reducing and eliminating health disparities in all age groups. Over 80% of the center’s patients are African American or Hispanic. More than one third (68%) are foreign born. In 2018, BCFHC provided 37,985 encounters to 11,845 unduplicated users.
