News Release
April 23, 2008
HMSA Foundation approves $219,592 in first quarter health grants
Cliff Cisco
(808) 948-5481
cliff_cisco@hmsa.com
In the first quarter of 2008, the Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) Foundation
board of directors approved 16 health grants for local organizations and community
health programs. They include:
- ARCS Foundation. The grant to the Achievement Rewards for College
Scientists (ARCS) Foundation supports its Health Research Awards program. The purpose
of the program is to recruit and retain outstanding students in the field of health
research. Grant amount – $5,000.
- Assistance League of Hawaii. The grant supports the We Care project,
which offers emergency kits for children waiting in hospitals and newborn babies
of indigent single mothers. The kits contain coloring books, crayons, and other
age-appropriate amusements for children. Grant amount – $1,000.
- Bishop Museum. The grant supports the Medical Mystery Festival,
a health education program designed to meet the needs of Title 1 students, their
teachers, and family members in rural Oahu and on the Neighbor Islands. Grant amount
– $30,000.
- City & County of Honolulu, Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
The grant supports the purchase of training simulators for staff training, the paramedic
program, and other community education programs at the EMS Training Academy. Grant
amount – $20,000.
- Family Support Services of West Hawaii. The grant supports the
Hawaii Island Breastfeeding Promotion Project and helps expand the home visitation
portion of the project with the addition of professionals and paraprofessionals
who promote breastfeeding in the home. Grant amount – $30,000.
- Hawaii Island HIV/AIDS Foundation. The grant supports the Teen
AIDS Prevention (TAP) Program, which educates teens who are at risk for unplanned
pregnancy and infection, including sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and HIV/AIDS.
Grant amount – $27,293.
- Hawaii Pediatric Association Research and Education Fund. The grant
supports the Childhood Obesity in Hawaii project, an effort coordinated by the University
of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics at the Kapiolani
Medical Center, to promote pediatric education, patient support, scientific research
on pediatrics, and dissemination of results. Grant amount – $30,000.
- Hawaii Primary Care Association. The grant supports training for
health center staff at the Healthcare Financial Management Annual Conference, “Make
A Difference,” in April 2008. Grant amount – $4,875.
- Mental Health Association of Hawaii. The grant supports the creation
and distribution of DVDs of the association’s Brown Bag Mental Health Seminars.
Grant amount – $1,174.
- Muscular Dystrophy Association. The grant supports the purchase
of eight new wheelchairs for children and adults on the Neighbor Islands living
with neuromuscular diseases. Grant amount – $8,000.
- Niu Valley Community Association. The grant supports the installation
of playground equipment in Niu Valley, which will help provide a safe play environment
for children in the community. Grant amount – $5,000.
- Pacific Health Research Institute (PHRI). The grant supports the
institute’s Health Research and Your Health project, an informational breakfast
series to show the community how PHRI research impacts local health care issues.
Grant amount – $4,000.
- Prevent Child Abuse Hawaii. The grant supports the organization’s
annual conference in April called “Connecting Children, Families, Communities.”
The conference brings together professionals and families and presents the latest
information on the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Grant amount –
$21,000.
- State of Hawaii, Dept. of Labor and Industrial Relations. The grant
supports the state’s first language access conference called “Laulima
– Working Together to Ensure Language Access in Hawaii.” The conference focuses
on recruiting interpreters and translators and discussing language access policies
and best practices. Grant amount – $6,000.
- Sunny Buddies. The grant supports the Sunny Buddies 2007-2008 Insurance
and Outreach Event by funding volunteer insurance for outings with individuals diagnosed
with mental retardation, families, and the community at large. Sunny Buddies is
an organization founded and run by medical students of the University of Hawaii’s
John A. Burns School of Medicine. Grant amount – $5,250.
- The Pediatric Foundation of Hawaii. The grant supports the expanded
distribution of the “Hawaii Pediatric Weight Management Toolkit: The Next
Step” on the Neighbor Islands. Grant amount – $21,000.
The HMSA Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt private charitable organization.
It was founded in Hawaii in 1986 as a public foundation with the goal of stimulating
research aimed at some of the pressing issues that confront Hawaii’s health
care industry. In 1997, the Foundation was converted to a private foundation to
allow for larger contributions from donors, such as HMSA.
The mission of the HMSA Foundation is to extend HMSA’s commitment to provide
community access to cost-effective health care services, promote health, provide
health education and relevant research, and improve social welfare in Hawaii.
Health plan dues from HMSA members and employer groups are not used to fund Foundation
grants. Foundation grants are funded with annual investment income earned on its
original endowment. For more information on the HMSA Foundation, please visit www.hmsafoundation.org.
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