Methodist Healthcare Ministries awards $26.7 million in health care grants
More than 85 grantees funded across South Texas
Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc., a private, faith-based, not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating access to health care for uninsured and low-income families through direct services, community partnerships and strategic grant-making, will award $26.7 million in community grants to more than 85 agencies to assist the health care needs of hundreds of thousands of Texans throughout its 74-county service area. View 2017 funded partners.
Given annually, these grants are rooted in partnerships that support access to care, integrated delivery systems and patient-centered models. In partnership with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), safety-net clinics, counseling services and regional community projects, Methodist Healthcare Ministries' goal is to create measurable impact at the community and regional levels to further establish health care networks. Awards are based on five core areas of giving: Primary & Preventive Care, Dental Services, Regionalization & Community Engagement, Social Services & Behavioral Health and Health Care Professional Shortages.
"We at Methodist Healthcare Ministries have always been committed to ensuring all people and families have access to quality care, regardless of where they live or ability to pay," said Methodist Healthcare Ministries' President & CEO, Kevin C. Moriarty. "We know the need for care is tremendous yet the accessibility of it, for far too many, is very limited. No one entity can meet this need alone, so for us, partnering with the more than 85 agencies that we fund, all of whom share in our mission to improve the health of our communities, is the only way we can together meet the need."
Funding is allocated to approximately 122 grant programs to deepen collaborative efforts, incentivize quality health outcomes, leverage and strengthen health care delivery systems and promote sustainable systems change.
The single largest area of giving this year is to Primary & Preventive Care. More than $12 million will be awarded to support programs designed to promote health, wellness and primary medical care services. Funding to Social Services & Behavioral Health is the second largest area with awards totaling $8 million to support integrated health care programs.
A San Antonio-based FQHC with a long-standing partnership with Methodist Healthcare Ministries, CommuniCare Health Centers, will receive the largest award, $2,031,000, for primary and preventive care and dental services.
"We are pleased to once again partner with Methodist Healthcare Ministries," said Paul Nguyen, MHA, President & CEO at CommuniCare. "This funding will enable us to provide services to thousands of patients, to promote patient health improvement and more in-depth tracking of outcomes."
A new funded partner this year, though not an unfamiliar partner due to previous ties through Methodist Healthcare Ministries' parenting programs, is Magdalena House, a transitional home in San Antonio that serves mothers and children who have fled dangerous and abusive lives by providing transformation through education, nurturing community and programming.
"This funding will enable Magdalena House to build a new facility to provide holistic care for families that have experienced some form of trauma," said Greg Stroud, president of the board of directors at Magdalena House. "We're appreciative and look forward to our partnership."
Methodist Healthcare Ministries provides funding and/or works in partnership with 15 of the 22 FQHCs located in its service area. "Our FQHC partners play a vital role in our mission of serving the underserved, especially by serving rural communities where access to care is limited," said Moriarty.
Methodist Healthcare Ministries seeks partnerships that align with its mission and services and support its objectives. Methodist Healthcare Ministries' board of directors oversees the selection of funded partners and requests are considered on an annual basis by invitation only; unsolicited proposals are not accepted.
Since inception, Methodist Healthcare Ministries has invested more than $255 million in grant-making to improve community health care in its 74-county service area which makes up 29 percent of Texas counties.
In addition to grant-making, Methodist Healthcare Ministries operates two San Antonio-based primary health care clinics: Wesley Health & Wellness Center and Bishop Ernest T. Dixon, Jr. Clinic, and two School Based Health Centers: School Based Health Center at Krueger Elementary and School Based Health Center at Schertz Elementary. The clinics address the needs of uninsured and low-income families by providing services at no cost or on a sliding scale fee. The health care services Methodist Healthcare Ministries provides are a cornerstone of its charitable mission of creating access to care. In total, the organization has invested over $600 million in services for unfunded patients.
Methodist Healthcare Ministries' mission also includes its one-half ownership of the Methodist Healthcare System – the largest healthcare system in South Texas. This creates a unique avenue to ensure the Methodist Healthcare System continues to be a benefit to the community by providing quality care to all, and revenue to Methodist Healthcare Ministries for its programs and services.
