Missouri Foundation Awards Grants to Health Organizations; Louisiana Program To Use Funds to Improve Rural Health Access

The Missouri Foundation for Health, the largest health care philanthropy in the state, on Aug. 8 distributed its first round of awards, 21 grants totaling $2.6 million, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The awards, called "core initiative" grants, will help not-for-profit groups, under financial strain from the economic slowdown, pay for basic expenses and infrastructure maintenance. The social service agencies receiving the funds will use the grants in areas such as elderly health, prescription drug assistance, mental illness and transportation assistance. Dr. James Kimmey, president and CEO of the charity, said his group plans to award a total of $8 million in grants this year and grants totaling $35 to $40 million next year. Beginning next year, the philanthropy will be required to give away 5% of its assets each year. The charity group was created when a court dissolved Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri after ruling that the company illegally transferred not-for-profit assets to a for-profit subsidiary (VandeWater, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8/9).

Louisiana Health Center Receives $1M Grant
The Louisiana State University's Health Sciences Center announced that it will use more than $1 million in grant money to improve access to health care in the state's rural areas through its existing Louisiana Rural Health Access Program, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports. The center received a two-year, $972,666 renewal grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the Louisiana Rural Access Program; a $245,000 expansion grant from the Pfizer Foundation; and a $160,000 grant from the Better Health for the Delta program. Louisiana Rural Health Access Program Director Marsha Broussard said the funds will help provide "technical assistance" to rural areas and help communities "provide care for a large number of people in a more organized fashion ... with more organized care that, in the long run, can be more effective." Previous efforts by the program have included recruiting more doctors to rural areas and establishing public clinics (Baton Rouge Advocate, 8/9).