Social impact report: 2021
One of our core beliefs at Medica is that everyone deserves the opportunity to be as healthy as possible. We’re a nonprofit health plan with a community-focused approach that stretches back to our founding in 1975. We began offering health insurance coverage throughout Nebraska in 2015 and opened an Omaha office staffed with local insurance experts in 2017. The Medica Foundation is our charitable giving arm and drives our philanthropic work. We began funding health initiatives across Nebraska in 2018. Our Nebraska-based team has been essential to the Foundation's success in identifying and supporting innovative nonprofits that are working to address health care challenges across the state. $ 1.165 million Total of grants awarded in Nebraska, 2018-2020 Our impact Through the Medica Foundation, we've awarded $1.165 million in grants across Nebraska through the end of our 2020 grant cycle. We concentrated our funding for strategic impact in three focus areas: behavioral health , early childhood health , and rural health . This report highlights a few of the organizations we've supported and issues we've tackled through our priority funding areas.
“The partnership between our Nebraska team and the Medica Foundation demonstrates to
communities across the state that Medica is serious about giving back and that we’re here to stay.” — Pat Bourne , Medica Vice President and Nebraska Market Leader
Behavioral health According to 2021 data from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, all but three of Nebraska’s 93 counties have a shortage of mental health professionals. We're working to close this gap by providing support for programs that focus on serious mental illness, recovery from substance use disorder, co-occurring disorders, and supportive and intensive case management services. Since 2018, the Foundation has awarded more than $550,000 in behavioral health grants that align with these priorities. With our grants, Nebraska nonprofits have implemented programs that advanced tele-mental health services, behavioral health services in schools, peer-support services, and bilingual health care support.
$ 75,000 to provide long-term behavioral health services for children
Lincoln-based HopeSpoke provides comprehensive behavioral health services for children and families, including crisis and residential services, extended day treatment, outpatient services, and school programs. In 2019, we supported HopeSpoke’s extended day treatment program for children ages 5 to 11 who have extreme behavioral health challenges that put them at risk for out-of-home placement or hospitalization. With our funding, HopeSpoke was also able to expand telehealth services and streamline its intake process so that wait times for its services decreased from 45+ days to 23 days. In 2020, our emergency-relief funding helped HopeSpoke deliver services via telehealth during the pandemic.
Building relationships and trust
In 2019, we launched a series of local discussions and learning forums called Community Conversations . These events have helped us cultivate a network of nonprofit partners and leaders in health who assist us in learning about the variety of health needs that exist across Nebraska. These partnerships enable us to build trust in the communities we serve, and respond to local needs in a way that makes a difference.
Early childhood health Needs assessments and our Community Conversation events confirmed the need to nurture healthy families in order to foster optimal growth and development of Nebraska’s young children. The Foundation has awarded nearly $240,000 in early childhood health grants since 2018 to improve access to prenatal and postpartum care, preventive care, and oral health care; enhance parenting skills; and address the needs of children who are experiencing homelessness and trauma.
$ 90,000 to provide accessible care for growing families
OneWorld is a federally qualified health center in Omaha that provides primary care, dentistry, and behavioral health services. More than 90% of its patients live in poverty, and nearly half are uninsured. OneWorld offers a sliding fee scale based on income and doesn’t turn away anyone who can’t afford to pay. Because more than 60% of OneWorld patients identify as Hispanic, we awarded a grant in 2019 that helped fund a bilingual child-health navigator. The navigator links families with pediatricians, schedules follow-up care, and connects families to additional resources and services. More than 470 prenatal patients met with the navigator at least once during the grant period. In 2020, our emergency-relief funding helped OneWorld serve more than 9,700 people with car-side COVID-19 screenings, telehealth services, medication deliveries, and general support.
“ Our patients were thankful someone was reaching out and thinking about them. The child-health navigator program allowed us to keep in contact with patients who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to stay in touch.”
— Fernando Vilches , Child-Health Navigator, OneWorld Community Health Centers Inc.
Rural health The needs and challenges in rural Nebraska communities are unique and differ from those in urban areas. Barriers to health care services, food insecurity, homelessness, lack of quality child care, addiction, and suicide have become more prominent in recent years. It’s much harder today for people who live outside of Nebraska’s metropolitan areas to be as healthy as they can be and access the care they need.
We recognize the importance of supporting community-led solutions that address the social determinants of health and improve health care access in rural Nebraska. We‘ve awarded grants that support rural community health workers; provide transportation and access to care; deliver culturally sensitive care to Native Americans; fund school-based mental health programs; support dental health; and address food security and other basic needs.
Our investments statewide, 2018-2020
Community
Investment $20,000 $70,500 $127,000 $5,000 $762,500 $80,000 $100,000 $1,165,000
Scottsbluff
Grand Island Kearney Lincoln North Platte Omaha Scottsbluff Grants with statewide impact Total
Omaha
North Platte
Lincoln Grand Island
Kearney
Contact the Medica Foundation 1 (952) 992-2060 | Foundation@Medica.com | MedicaFoundation.org
© 2021 Medic a | MXC71000426-5-00321A
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