Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Investments
will support key initiatives across the state including increasing access to
health care, preventing prescription opioid misuse and supporting tobacco-free
living for at-risk populations
WOONSOCKET, R.I. – As part of its commitment to building
healthier communities, CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) today announced it and its
private charity will be donating more than $2.5 million in Ohio over the next
three years to improve the health and wellness of Ohioans across the state.
The new funding from CVS
Health and the CVS Health Foundation will help support Ohio nonprofits as they
tackle critical health issues that the state is currently facing. Grants to a
number of different organizations will focus on mitigating prescription opioid
abuse and misuse, expanding access to health care for underinsured and
uninsured populations, and helping people to quit smoking. The company is also
committed to expanding its workforce presence and training programs within
Ohio.
“We can help improve the
health outcomes of our communities by strengthening our local support and
empowering local organizations that are developing innovative solutions,” said
Eileen Howard Boone, Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility and
Philanthropy, CVS Health. “The organizations we are working with are truly
dedicated to addressing the key public health issues in the state of Ohio and
can help people on their path to better health.”
Expanding access to affordable, quality care
Through a new $1.5
million donation over three years to the National Association of Free and
Charitable Clinics, CVS Health will help provide convenient access to care for
more than 52,000 underserved Ohioans each year. The new grant program will
allow the more than 60 free clinics across the state to increase capacity
through additional staffing support, education and training for clinic teams.
The funds will also be used to create new programming that will do more to
support chronic disease management and address social determinants of
health.
Helping to combat opioid misuse and abuse
To help veterans
impacted by opioid misuse, the CVS Health Foundation has made a $100,000 grant
to Easterseals of Cincinnati, over two years, to provide immersive
community-based care, including mental health and recovery services for
veterans.
CVS Pharmacy, the retail
business of CVS Health, has also expanded its Safe Medication program in Ohio
to 82 new locations during 2019, bringing the total number of in-store and
community medication disposal units across the state to nearly 200. CVS
Pharmacy has also expanded its successful Pharmacists Teach program to engage
more than 500 Ohio youth and their parents on the dangers of prescription drug
abuse.
Delivering the first tobacco-free generation
As part of the company’s
$50 million, Be The First initiative to help deliver the first tobacco-free
generation, CVS Health is also committing $500,000 to the American Lung
Association to help Ohioans quit smoking. The new donation will provide more
than a quarter million Ohio Managed Medicaid plan members access to tobacco
cessation services in 2019 and 2020 – especially important, since it is
estimated that nearly 32 percent of all Medicaid patients nationwide smoke.
Through the new partnership with the American Lung Association, participants
will receive a one-year membership to the successful Freedom from Smoking
program, which includes online cessation modules and access to the Lung Help
Line.
Additionally, CVS Health
is providing the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics with a
$30,000 grant to incorporate a youth tobacco screening tool to assist health
care providers in identifying adolescent smoking/vaping behavior and smoke
exposure, and to equip health care providers with resources to share with their
patients and caregivers.
In addition to supporting
local nonprofits, CVS Health is also committed to expanding and enhancing its
workforce programs in the state of Ohio to help find meaningful employment for
veterans, individuals with disabilities, as well as youth and mature workers.
The company recently opened a new WITC (Workforce Innovation & Talent
Center) in Cleveland (video available),
and this year has opened six other training sites across the state in
Cleveland, Youngstown, Middleburg Heights, Cincinnati, Painesville, and Lewis
Center. CVS Health will also continue to work with community partners, such as
Centers for Families and Children, Goodwill Industries, Baldwin Wallace
University and local high schools across the state, to support the growing
needs of the Ohio workforce.
“Our continued
investments to local non-profits and our workforce are key to making a
meaningful impact on the lives of the people of Ohio,” said David Casey, Vice
President, Workforce Strategies, and Chief Diversity Officer, CVS Health. “We
are committed to working with these organizations to expand the delivery of
care and build healthier communities across the state.”
About CVS Health
CVS Health is the
nation’s premier health innovation company helping people on their path to
better health. Whether in one of its pharmacies or through its health services
and plans, CVS Health is pioneering a bold new approach to total health by
making quality care more affordable, accessible, simple and seamless. CVS
Health is community-based and locally focused, engaging consumers with the care
they need when and where they need it. The Company has approximately 9,900
retail locations, approximately 1,100 walk-in medical clinics, a leading
pharmacy benefits manager with more than 102 million plan members, a dedicated
senior pharmacy care business serving more than one million patients per year
and expanding specialty pharmacy services. CVS Health also serves an estimated
38 million people through traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health
insurance products and related services, including rapidly expanding Medicare
Advantage offerings and a leading standalone Medicare Part D prescription drug
plan. The Company believes its innovative health care model increases access to
quality care, delivers better health outcomes and lowers overall health care
costs. Find more information about how CVS Health is shaping the future of
health at https://www.cvshealth.com.
About the CVS Health Foundation
The CVS Health
Foundation is a private charitable organization created by CVS Health that
works to build healthier communities, enabling people of all ages to lead
healthy, productive lives. The Foundation provides strategic investments to
nonprofit partners throughout the U.S. who help increase community-based access
to health care for underserved populations, create innovative approaches to
chronic disease management and provide tobacco cessation and youth prevention
programming. We also invest in scholarship programs that open the pathways to
careers in pharmacy to support the academic aspirations of the best and
brightest talent in the industry. Our philanthropy also extends to supporting
our colleagues' spirit of volunteerism through Volunteer Challenge Grants to
nonprofits where they donate their time and fundraising efforts. To learn more
about the CVS Health Foundation and its giving, visit
www.cvshealth.com/social-responsibility.
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