PRESS RELEASE

DATE: April 30, 2019

CONTACT: Sandy Dees, 864/797-7557, sandy.dees@prismahealth.org

GREENVILLE, SC – Following a unanimous vote on Tuesday, the Greenville Health Authority (GHA) Board of Trustees awarded an additional 22 grants through its Healthy Greenville program, bringing the total amount of grants to nearly $19.4 million since the program began two years ago. Just-awarded grants range from an innovative opioid-overdose counseling program to initiatives that will provide in-community health outreach, expanded mental health counseling and assistance for veterans.

More than 80% of the grants target underserved populations as part of GHA’s work with community partners to help break generational cycles of disparities.

The grant program, which features micro-grants as small as $5,000 for a single year to three-year macro-grants topping $500,000, is part of Greenville Health Authority’s commitment to improving the health and well-being of the residents of Greenville County. By 2052, the program is expected to invest more than $136 million into health programs directly benefitting Greenville County, although the health benefits are expected to also be felt outside of the county.  So far, 34 lead agencies have received grants, although the total number of agencies and communities groups collaborating on those grants number nearly 120.

“We’re thrilled to help our community in any way we can – but particularly in improving its health, which is the core of what we do,” said the Rev. Sean Dogan, chairman of the Greenville Health Authority Board of Trustees. “Just as the physicians, nurses and other team members work here because they want to help people, we on the boards volunteer here because we want to make our communities better. We know that some of the steps we take today – whether in helping communities fight diabetes or help detect cancer earlier – will reap enormous health benefits for our families and community in the years to come.”

“By working with our partners, we hope to move beyond a so-called Band-aid approach and remove the problem before the ‘injury’ ever occurs,” said Dogan.

Prisma Health-Upstate, formerly Greenville Health System, is committed to improving the health and well-being of citizens of Greenville County, which includes health promotion, disease prevention and taking care of all in need. Part of that commitment is providing to GHA an annual commitment of $4 million for the Healthy Greenville program to support health-related care, health research and health education initiatives benefiting the residents of Greenville County.

Macro-grants awarded this year include the following:

• FAVOR Greenville was awarded a $335,000 grant over three years to expand the FAVOR Overdose Recovery Coaching Evaluation (FORCE) from Greenville Memorial Emergency Department to the emergency departments at Greer Memorial and Hillcrest hospitals. Operational since January 2018, the FORCE program has successfully engaged more than 200 overdose survivors with 65% follow up/retention success, 72% success in linkage to treatment and only 8.9% recidivism to the health system.
• Gateway House, Inc. was awarded $500,000 over three years to complete construction of a new facility, doubling its capacity to provide rehabilitation opportunities to more than 450 adults recovering from effects of serious and persistent mental illness.

Unity Health on Main was awarded $540,170 over three years to serve the uninsured and underserved Hispanic, African American and other minority populations in the White Horse Road Corridor. Collaboratively, using a multi-generational and multi-level approach, Unity Health on Main will help increase access to medical and mental health care, reduce obesity and diabetes disparities and encourage healthy eating and exercise to reduce health risk factors.

• Taylors Free Medical Clinic was awarded $281,340 over three years to increase capacity for patient care including intake, diagnosis, treatment and educational services. The grant will help enable Taylors Free Medical Clinic to increase the number of patient office visits to more than 5,000 visits annually.
• Prisma Health-Upstate was awarded $100,000 to create a mobile mammography clinic focused on the development of medical resources that address barriers to care and assist with breast cancer prevention efforts. The clinic will provide proactive health care and will help to decrease barriers in access to preventative care as part of a larger population health management strategy to improve the health of Greenville County.

To read the full press release visit Greenville Health Authority online.

About Unity Health on Main

Unity Health on Main is a 501(c)(3) grassroots health center built around the simple belief that everyone deserves comprehensive primary health care services regardless of their ability to pay. Designed to provide pediatrics and comprehensive primary health care services that are culturally competent and client-driven, our mission is to reduce area health disparities while catering to nearly 70 thousand members of the Medically Underserved Area of Greenville County (SC). Unity Health on Main depends on grants and community donations to serve nearly 600 patients each month. For more information or to donate, please visit us on the web at www.unityhealthonmain.org.