GE Foundation Awards $2M Grant to Support New Orleans School-Based Health Centers

August 24th, 2010

The GE Foundation - the philanthropic organization of GE - has announced a $2 million grant to Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI), as part of GE’s Developing Health program.  This specific grant will underwrite the program work led by School Health Connection (SHC) in Orleans Parish, LA and benefit students who will have increased access to healthcare through school-based health centers in the community.

Developing Health is a 3-year, $25 million, GE signature program that aims to improve access to primary care in targeted underserved communities across the United States. The program aligns with GE’s healthymagination initiative—a commitment to help change the world’s approach to healthcare by lowering costs, improving quality and increasing access to healthcare.

“Recognizing a critical need in the U.S. healthcare system, the Developing Heath program seeks to help fill the gap in access to quality care in underserved communities. This specific grant to Orleans Parish will expand access to preventive, primary care, and primary mental health services for adolescents in the area. LPHI is well positioned to scale the school-based health center network in Orleans Parish to ensure the primary health needs of students and community members are met.”

“Developing Health’s program objectives align with GE’s healthymagination goals to increase access to quality healthcare, as well as to deliver better health to more people,” said Mike Barber, vice president, healthymagination, GE. “For example, nearly 16% of the U.S. population is without health insurance and needs access to primary healthcare, with more than 9 million children uninsured in the United States. This program is designed to enable access to ‘primary healthcare’ in communities such as New Orleans and across the United States.”

The $2 million grant from the GE Foundation will enable LPHI and its partner organizations to build on previous philanthropic and government investments received Post-Katrina in order to continue to provide access to healthcare in the New Orleans area. With 38,000 students across Orleans Parish alone, this grant has the potential to give thousands of students improved access to primary healthcare services.

“This great partnership and grant funding will provide primary care access to a largely underserved population in the schools in Orleans Parish,” said Joseph Kimbrell, CEO of LPHI. “With each new school-based health center, we are helping to shape the future of healthcare delivery in New Orleans.”

School-based health centers provide comprehensive preventive, primary care, and primary mental health services for enrolled school students.  Given the close proximity to student activities, school–based health centers provide easy access to services for youth who frequently delay treatments or commonly seek emergency room care. With the grant from the GE Foundation, School Health Connection, in association with local and state partner organizations, plans to increase utilization through growing enrollment and increasing use among eligible students, as well as extending services to neighboring schools, family members and nearby residents. 

The program, which is modeled after GE’s successful philanthropic program Developing Health Globally™ is a partnership between GE Corporate Citizenship and the GE Corporate Diversity Council. Designed and launched in NYC in October 2009, the program has expanded to Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Louisville and New Orleans.

The “Developing Health”  program builds on the success GE’s existing Developing Health Globally (DHG) program. Launched in Africa in 2004, this philanthropic program now extends to 14 countries across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.  DHG aims to improve healthcare for some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.  DHG uses GE core competencies including technology, expertise and employee engagement to provide sustainable “enterprise solutions” that address some of the critical gaps that exist in developing-world healthcare facilities.

For more information on Developing Health Globally, click here. 

For more information on Developing Health, click here.