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UnitedHealthcare Awards $5.2 Million in Grants to California Nonprofits – $505,000 to Family Health Centers of San Diego

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Fri Mar 15, 2013 5:43pm EDT

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Grants support nine California nonprofit organizations to strengthen youth
wellness, care delivery and health technology in underserved communities
SAN DIEGO--(Business Wire)--
Family Health Centers of San Diego has been awarded a $505,000 grant by
UnitedHealthcare to help improve health care delivery services for local
patients and community residents.

http://mms.businesswire.com/bwapps/mediaserver/ViewMedia?mgid=362001&vid=4
Tony Lonigro (left), Southwest Region CEO, UnitedHealthcare Military and
Veterans, on Friday, March 15, presents a $505,000 grant to Family Health
Centers of San Diego to help improve health care delivery services for community
residents. Receiving the check (left to right): Barbara Carr, Family Health
Centers of San Diego board chair; Jessica Poole, district director of
Congresswoman Susan Davis; Fran Butler-Cohen, CEO, Family Health Centers of San
Diego; Marti Emerald, San Diego City Council Member; Angeli Colinog, district
staff of state Sen. Joel Anderson (Photo: Jamie Rector).

The grant is part of $5.2 million UnitedHealthcare is awarding to nine health
care organizations to support nonprofit clinics and hospitals that improve
health care services for underserved communities statewide. 

Family Health Centers of San Diego has been serving residents of San Diego,
including low-income, uninsured and medically underserved people, for more than
four decades. Today Family Health Centers serves more than a third of all San
Diegans who make their medical home at a community health center. 

The UnitedHealthcare grant will help Family Health Centers enhance care
coordination and referrals throughout its network of 33 sites and 51
community-based locations that are expecting more than 1.3 million patient
visits in the next two years. Family Health Centers will implement and use
electronic health records systems and electronic referrals. 

In 2009, UnitedHealthcare provided a $96,000 grant that enabled the organization
to completely retool its central pharmacy processes and operations systems,
helping to reduce pharmacy wait times for patients from an average of 2.5 hours
to less than 40 minutes. 

"This grant from UnitedHealthcare provides tremendous support as we invest in
new technologies and training that will improve the delivery of services to
patients who receive care through our community clinics," said Fran
Butler-Cohen, CEO, Family Health Centers of San Diego. "Through these funds we
aim to build a model care coordination process that will enable us to deliver
important health care services to even more people in our community." 

The latest grant announcement and check presentation was made at Family Health
Centers` Spirit of the Barrio luncheon. For more than 25 years, the luncheons
have raised support for Family Health Centers of San Diego`s programs and
services. More than 500 supporters including individuals, businesses, corporate
sponsors, elected officials and community leaders attend each event to enjoy a
famous tamale lunch, and gather for networking, education, entertainment and
community building. 

"Thank you UnitedHealthcare for recognizing the value that community clinics
provide in delivering services to our children and families. This is a great
investment in our community," said Greg Cox, chairman, San Diego County Board of
Supervisors. 

"Family Health Centers of San Diego is making a significant impact in improving
patients` health," said Tony Lonigro, Southwest Region CEO, UnitedHealthcare
Military & Veterans. "UnitedHealthcare is grateful for the opportunity to help
Family Health Centers enhance the quality health services it provides so that
more people may receive the care they need." 

Since 2008, UnitedHealthcare has provided more than $30 million in grants to 53
nonprofits statewide. Seven of them are in San Diego, receiving $3.1 million. 

In addition to these grants, UnitedHealthcare`s California Health Care
Investment Program has provided $269 million in total investments to 46 health
care organizations throughout the state help underserved, low-income and
underinsured communities and populations. This includes $5.5 million to fund a
new 120-unit residential treatment and rehabilitation center in National City to
help people overcome alcohol and substance abuse addictions. 

Last year, UnitedHealthcare provided $15.1 million to help finance the
rehabilitation and conversion of the historic World Trade Center in Downtown San
Diego into Connections Housing, which offers permanent year-round shelter,
housing and other services for homeless people. Connections Housing held a grand
opening ceremony March 11. 

UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company, serves more than 2.3
million Californians with a care provider network of 320 hospitals and more than
56,800 physicians statewide. 

About Family Health Centers of San Diego
Family Health Centers of San Diego is a non-profit community health center
organization whose mission is to provide caring, affordable, high quality
healthcare and supportive services to everyone, with a special commitment to
uninsured, low income and medically underserved persons. As the largest provider
of safety net healthcare in the region, Family Health Centers of San Diego cared
for more than 165,000 individuals in 2011 through over 625,000 patient visits. 

About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives
by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness
needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company
offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers
and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with 780,000
physicians and care professionals and 5,900 hospitals and other care facilities
nationwide. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 40 million people in health
benefits and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a
diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. 

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UnitedHealthcare
Matthew Yi, 714-822-1097
matthew.yi@uhc.com

Copyright Business Wire 2013

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