Press Release

IBC Aids Gwynedd Mercy Health and Wellness Center

IBC Charitable Medical Care Grants Help Care for the Uninsured

Philadelphia, PA - September 15, 2004 Just over a year ago, the Health and Wellness Center sponsored by Gwynedd Mercy College was almost out of time. A lack of consistent funding threatened to close the doors on low-income patients for whom the clinic was the only means of medical care.

Today the Health Center remains open, thanks in part to a three-year grant from Independence Blue Cross' Charitable Medical Care Grant Program, which offers financial support for non-profit, privately funded clinics in southeastern Pennsylvania who provide free or low-cost care to the area's uninsured.

"This is the largest funding we've had in our history and we're absolutely thrilled," said Andrea Hollingsworth, Dean and Professor at the Gwynedd Mercy College School of Nursing. Ms. Hollingsworth oversees clinic operations. "We weren't sure how much further we would be able to go into the future and this was a wonderful vote of support for what we're doing."

The Charitable Medical Care Grant program provides clinics with 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 in the clinics. To date, IBC has dedicated $2.8 million to 13 clinics over the next three years.

"Clinics like Gwynedd Mercy's and the men and women who volunteer to staff them are filling a tremendous need in our region," said G. Fred DiBona, Jr., president and CEO of Independence Blue Cross. "Without them, many uninsured would have no place to turn but the emergency room — which already is overcrowded. And many other uninsured people would simply go without medical care altogether.

"Through the Charitable Medical Care Grant Program," DiBona added, "we are not only helping the uninsured get access to medical care, but filling a void our community is struggling to address, but we also help reduce incidents of uncompensated care for our providers. And, ultimately, that helps control medical costs for our members."

Now in its sixth year, the Health Center shares space with the North Penn VNA Children's Clinic, a move that also helped the clinic remain in business. Nurse practitioner and clinic director, Denise Vanacore, Ph.D., CRNP, APRN, BC, ANP, says that the clinic sees more than 600 patients ages 10 and above and will put the grant money to excellent use.

"We're in the process of hiring an additional Nurse Practitioner, which will help expand the clinic's hours, and we ve purchased an EKG machine and electronic thermometer," says Dr. Vanacore.

Although the clinic typically sees patients for acute care, they also focus on ensuring that all patients have well-rounded healthcare. In addition to basic medical care, patients have access to a nurse psychotherapist, counseling for chronic conditions, and receive smoking cessation and nutritional information as needed during half-hour visits.

For more information about this clinic or the additional clinics aided by the IBC Charitable Medical Care Grant Program, contact Butch Ward at 215-241-2220.

About Gwynedd Mercy's Health Center
Located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, the Health Center serves more than 600 ethnically diverse, low-income adult patients age ten and up. Nurse practitioners are on-call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to handle emergency situations.

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.