Huntsville Hospital Community Health Initiative Dispenses $600K Grants to Local Nonprofit Health Organizations
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – In a significant move reflecting their continued commitment to community health, the Huntsville Hospital Community Health Initiative (HHCHI) announced the disbursement of grants worth a notable $600,000 to ten local nonprofit healthcare organizations this Tuesday. Recipients are community-rooted healthcare organizations principally focused on providing vital services to local citizens with no health coverage benefits.
A Legacy of Support to Local Nonprofit Healthcare
Established originally in 1996, this marks a triumphal 28th year of the HHCHI’s ongoing legacy in extending vital financial support towards local healthcare organizations. Over these years, the Initiative has granted an impressive total exceeding $13 million in grants to more than 50 entities dedicated to uplifting local health standards.
According to Jeff Samz, CEO of Huntsville Health Systems, what’s considered most valuable about this initiative is the irreplaceable impact these grants and the recipient facilities have had on the local community over the years. He remarked on the ‘incredibly gratifying’ results that initiatives like the free dental clinic and the free health clinic have had on the most needy populations, stating, “Where people who don’t have any resources at all can get free care.”
Community Free Clinic
Community Free Clinic, an unwavering recipient of the Initiative’s support grant for the past 26 years, continues to focus on its key objective of providing free health care, medications, and supportive education to those who lack healthcare benefits.
Healthcare director of the Community Free Clinic, Shotsie Platt, shared some profound reflections on the significant impacts she has observed from their work on the community. “On the patient, it changes their life completely,” Platt said. “I mean, to be able to have access to healthcare that they wouldn’t ordinarily have, staying out of the hospital. The effect on the community is that they are not in the emergency room, they’re not in the ICUs, they’re not in the CCUs. They’re able to continue working and providing for their family.”
Clinica Medica Moscati, a First Time Awardee
A completely new entrant on the list of grant recipients this year is Clinica Medica Moscati, whose services reach beyond the conventional medical care, focusing religiously on addressing the health needs of people in distress, particularly among the Hispanic community. Notably, the clinic also provides specializations ranging from gastroenterology to rheumatology.
Mayra Short, Administrative Director, expressed her dedication to comprehensive patient care, stating, “One of the things we do is we help our patients over and beyond medical care,” said Short. “So, when we identify a patient as having specific needs, we work with other nonprofits to serve them.”
Short relayed an instance of a patient struggling with shelter insecurity, where she reached out to nonprofits dealing with that issue to provide further help. With the new grant, she hopes to hire a case worker to improve their services beyond regular health-related matters.
Detailed List of Nonprofit Grant Awardees:
- The Arc of Madison County – $95,000
- Clinica Medica Moscati – $50,000
- The Community Free Clinic – $100,000
- The Community Free Dental Clinic – $50,000
- HEALS – $25,000
- Kids to Love – $85,000
- New Hope Children’s Clinic – $25,000
- Parkinson’s Dynamics – $85,000
- United Cerebral Palsy – $35,000
- Village of Promise – $50,000
For more information about the commendable work of the Huntsville Hospital Community Health Initiative, please visit their official website.