The Regence Foundation Grants Target Medical Care for Uninsured Community Clinics in Four States to Ge...( PORTLAND Ore. Nov. 18 /- The Regence ...),Health

PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The Regence Foundation today announced eight grants totaling $350,000 to support organizations across Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington. All the grants are geared toward improving health care access.

"The Regence Foundation is committed to funding organizations working to build healthy communities," said Michael Alexander, Regence Foundation board chair. "Connecting people without a medical home or health insurance to quality, affordable care is one of the most important things we can do toward that goal."

-- Family Medicine Residency of Idaho (Boise, ID): $129,000 to expand medical staff and hours of service at the Garden City Community Clinic, a free clinic operating in Garden City, Idaho. The clinic is the only primary care provider in Garden City and is open just two evenings per week.

-- Community-Minded Enterprises (Spokane, WA): $50,000 to help match uninsured individuals and families with health insurance programs to get coverage. The program is unique in that it proactively seeks to reach the uninsured before they face a health care crisis.

-- King County Project Access (Seattle, WA): $35,000 to expand access to specialty care for the working poor in King County. KCPA facilitates the county's only specialty care safety net services, such as neurology, cardiology, orthopedic surgery and ophthalmology.

-- Franciscan Foundation (Tacoma, WA): $31,000 to expand the Foundation's Breast Cancer Navigator Program to reach Latinas. The program will work to reduce the risk of breast cancer, the leading cause of cancer death for Latinas, through cultural and language appropriate outreach.

-- Umpqua Community Health Center (Roseburg, OR): $30,000 to open a new medical clinic in the community of Myrtle Creek, where poverty and geographic isolation exacerbate the challenge uninsured community members face when seeking afford
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