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Press Release

Independence Blue Cross Grant Supports Health Care for Mothers, Children

IBC Charitable Medical Care Grant Program aids St. Mary Medical Center Community Health Ministries


With his parents looking on, a young patient receives a well-baby check-up from Marcella Hernandez, Medical Assistant at St. Mary Children's Health Center.
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Philadelphia, PA - April 4, 2005 - It's an area dotted with exquisite homes and considered to be one of the most affluent counties in Pennsylvania. Yet, for many women and children who live in bucolic Bucks County, access to basic maternal and pediatric care was out of reach. Until St. Mary Medical Center stepped in.

"Our goal is to provide services that enable a healthy mom and baby," said Terri Rivera, Administrator of Community Health Services at St. Mary Medical Center. "Not only do we provide much-needed medical care, but we also provide the resources to help the community improve the health of their families and lift them out of the cycle of poverty."

To help St. Mary Medical Center Foundation continue to provide care to the uninsured women and children in Bucks County, Independence Blue Cross has awarded the clinic financial support through the IBC Charitable Medical Care Grant Program.

The Charitable Medical Care Grant program provides a financial support to non-profit, privately funded clinics in southeastern Pennsylvania who provide free or low-cost care to the area's uninsured. The grant is a three-year financial commitment to help support areas such as general operating expenses, unfunded pharmaceutical needs, medical supplies, specialty care, diagnostic tests, or other pertinent needs critical to the delivery of care within the clinics. To date, IBC has dedicated nearly $3.8 million to 20 clinics over a three-year period.

Following a needs assessment of area residents, St. Mary Medical Center provides prenatal care and pediatric to care low-income area residents through its Mother Bachman Maternity Center and the St. Mary Children's Health Center. Its maternity center is the only one of its kind that accepts women regardless of their ability to pay. The women and children are at 200% or less of the poverty level, and many are from other countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. St. Mary has an emergency shelter apartment program that is utilized by many of their homeless pregnant women and their families to help them become self-sufficient again.

St. Mary also offers a Family Resource Center - a collection of programs and services to help residents make sustainable changes in their lives. Services include life skills classes, smoking cessation, counseling, GED and English as Second Language courses.

The Bensalem area where the clinic is located is home to many working poor and is an oasis of diversity. With patients from ethnic groups as far-flung as Afghanistan and Ethiopia, St. Mary faced significant linguistic and cultural challenges. To meet those challenges and better serve its patients, the center has a Spanish-speaking staff and a Muslim midwife among its 12 full-time staff and three nurse midwives. The center also employs a social worker and financial counselor whose full-time job is to help patients navigate the often confusing rules of the health care system and to see if patients are eligible for aid. St. Mary is planning additional support for a dual headset phone to assist with translation.

"Our long-term goal is 100 percent access for all our patients," says Rivera. "But we need more funding to help meet the needs of our community, especially since the number of uninsured continues to grow."

On track to deliver 350 babies this year, St. Mary plans to use IBC's funds to hire another midwife and to expand their hours of operation. St. Mary has already used some of the funding to purchase a van to transport patients from the clinic to St. Mary's Hospital for specialist care.

"IBC's financial support is helping us make inroads into our community's health and well-being," says Rivera. "We're excited that IBC is helping us meet the needs of our patients."

"We're awed by St. Mary's commitment and dedication to serve others and we are honored to be able to assist them through the Charitable Medical Care Grant Program," said Joseph A. Frick, IBC President and CEO. "St. Mary's makes enormous contributions to the physical and spiritual well-being of those they serve, but their impact goes further - their work fills a void in the community and supports the health of the entire region."

About St. Mary Medical Center Community Health Ministries

St. Mary Medical Center Community Health Ministries was established in 1991 after a needs assessment found that low-income women were unable to find prenatal care in the lower Bucks area. The clinic is specifically dedicated to providing medical services to young children and maternal care to low-income and uninsured women. Located in a Bensalem shopping center, the clinic provides care to over 2,300 patients annually and has delivered 1,800 babies since 1991.

About Independence Blue Cross

Independence Blue Cross is the leading health insurer in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Nationwide, IBC and its affiliates provide coverage to nearly 3.5 million people.