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Investing in a Healthy Future - Kaiser Permanente Teams Up with Athens Area Community Foundation to Expand the Athens Health Network
With $25,000 in funding, Kaiser Permanente of Georgia and the Athens Area Community Foundation (AACF) are making a major investment in a healthy future for Athens’ most disadvantaged residents. The funding will leverage and amplify the capacity of the Athens Health Network, a coalition of local healthcare providers, to build a seamless health safety net for low-income Athenians.
The Athens Health Network (AHN) grew out of the 2006 anti-poverty initiative Partners for a Prosperous Athens/OneAthens. “With a 19% uninsured rate, the community knows that a lack of access to affordable healthcare creates a drag not only on the individual, but also on our entire economy,” says Delene Porter, AACF’s CEO. In response, citizens and clinics of the OneAthens Health Team, AHN’s predecessor, identified ways to build on effective programs and add cutting edge solutions to provide the uninsured and underinsured of Athens-Clarke County with medical care.
“This grant will enable AHN to develop and expand three programs that will change Athens’ medical landscape,” says Allie Chambers, AHN’s Executive Director. The first initiative involves the county-wide expansion of a lay health educator program successfully piloted at Mercy Health Center, one of AHN’s member clinics. The second initiative will allow AHN to enhance a medication assistance program that partners the University of Georgia’s College of Pharmacy with the Athens Neighborhood Health Center, Athens Nurses Clinic, and Mercy. The last, and most groundbreaking, initiative will create a local health assurance program that provides a primary care home to those county residents that lack consistent access to healthcare.
Chambers says, “Kaiser Permanente and AACF’s support will allow us to target the current and potential patients of AHN’s five clinics that primarily serve the uninsured and underinsured, in addition to reaching the uninsured, working poor of Athens-Clarke County with primary and specialty care.” She adds, “With our goals of improving coordination of clinical services, expanding client navigation services, and integrating information technology, it’s critical that AHN find funders that support collaboration.” AHN is composed of diverse agencies, including direct medical service providers and community healthcare resource agencies. Healthcare providers include Advantage Behavioral Health Systems, Athens Neighborhood Health Center, Athens Nurses Clinic, Athens Regional Medical Center, the Athens-Clarke County Public Health Department, the Clarke County School District’s school nurses program, Mercy Health Center, St. Mary’s Hospital and Health Care System, and the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy. The College of Public Health, other units of the University of Georgia, other postsecondary academic institutions in the county, the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government, and a local Independent Physicians Association are all community partners in the Athens Health Network as well.
“AACF seeks ways to advance sustainable solutions that meet community needs,” says Porter. “We’re particularly excited to partner with Kaiser Permanente and leverage new funds to support local programs.”
The Athens Area Community Foundation strives to turn donors’ charitable goals into permanent legacies; invest in our community through strategic grantmaking; and lead our community to a better future. AACF is a 501(c)(3) public nonprofit serving Athens-Clarke, Oconee, Barrow, Madison, Oglethorpe, and Jackson Counties. AACF is a member of the Southeastern Council of Foundations and the Council on Foundations.