For Immediate Release
August 22, 2003

Contact:
Kyle Marshall, (919) 765-4378
Michelle Douglas, (919) 765-2825

BCBSNC Foundation Announces $75,000 in Grants To Improve Access to Health Care

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) Foundation has awarded two grants totaling $75,000 that will be used to improve access to health care in North Carolina.

The Foundation awarded $50,000 to the North Carolina Medical Society Foundation to support its Community Practitioner Program, a medical education loan repayment assistance program for physicians, physician assistants and family nurse practitioners. In return, these health care providers will offer their services as a primary care provider for an underserved area in North Carolina. The grant will increase the program's ability to work with local communities to improve the state's overall health care infrastructure.

The Foundation also awarded $25,000 to the Medical Foundation of North Carolina to help establish "medical homes" for children with special health care needs. Under the medical home concept, children benefit from coordinated care that is accessible, comprehensive and family-centered.

"The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation believes these two programs will have a positive, measurable impact on meeting health care needs," said Kathy Higgins, vice president of the BCBSNC Foundation and senior director of community relations at BCBSNC. "The Foundation is building a legacy of health and well-being through support of innovative solutions to community health challenges."

The North Carolina Medical Society Foundation's Community Practitioner Program is expected to help approximately 85 providers deliver indigent care valued at an estimated $4.7 million for 2003. The program was established in 1989 to improve manpower shortages in the state's health care system.

"This generous donation will help the Community Practitioner Program reach into areas of North Carolina with limited medical resources," said Elizabeth P. Kanof, M.D., president of the North Carolina Medical Society Foundation. "Placing primary care providers in these underserved communities is vital to improving health care access issues in our state."