FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:        Marge Sullivan, Palm Healthcare Foundation, 561-833-6333

Melanie Otero, The Waters Pelton Organization, 561-626-0026, ext. 11

                        Jennifer Martinez, The Waters Pelton Organization, 561-626-0026, ext. 19

West Palm Beach, FL—Strengthening the healthcare workforce and providing support to new and innovative healthcare projects to reach the underserved in Palm Beach County were consistent themes throughout the $4 million in grants distributed by Palm Healthcare Foundation, Palm Beach County’s leading public healthcare foundation, during its 2007 fiscal year. 

One of the foundation’s key initiatives is strengthening the healthcare workforce in Palm Beach County, particularly nursing.  According to a 2007 study by the Florida Center for Nursing, demand for nursing personnel in Florida is expected to grow by one-quarter through 2014, equating to 36,428 new jobs for RNs.  At the same time, the average age of nurses is rapidly increasing, indicating a large wave of retirements during the next ten years and increasing the need to drive interest and support new nurses entering the field. 

Significant programs funded in part by Palm Healthcare Foundation to help close the nursing shortage gap include:

·         Novice Nurse Leadership Institute

A three-credit university course at Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University consisting of workshops and activities over 12 months for Palm Beach County registered nurses in their first year of practice.  The project is designed to ease the transition gap between nursing education and entry-level practice and help develop the next generation of nurse leaders at all levels of practice.

Grant Amount: $149,000 provided to Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University: 

·         The Florida Nursing Resource Center (NRC)

Developed through the collaboration of Palm Healthcare Foundation and the Nursing Shortage Consortium of South Florida, the NRC is a centralized online system that serves as an important link between nursing faculty who schedule students needing clinical training and clinical facilities with available openings.  It also allows schools to post vacant faculty positions and interested nurses to post profiles to fill the vacancies.

Grant Amount: $72,000 provided to bring the NRC to Palm Beach, Hendry, St. Lucie, Indian River, Okeechobee and Martin counties. 

In addition to strengthening the healthcare workforce, Palm Healthcare Foundation’s funding priorities include access to healthcare, healthcare quality and safety, healthcare technology, and healthcare policy.  Grants supporting these initiatives during the foundation’s fiscal year 2007 include:

·         MorseLife - Monitoring Technology through Continuum of Care

Funding provides for MorseLife to conduct a research project in collaboration with the University of Virginia to determine the most efficient way to provide care to our senior population remotely using the most effective, yet noninvasive methods.

Grant Amount: $139,381.50

·         Palm Beach County Medical Society, Inc. - HERC, (Healthcare Disaster Preparedness and Response Initiative)

With seed funding and ongoing support from Palm Healthcare Foundation, HERC has developed a series of hospital protocols on preparing for and responding to any mass-casualty incident, including those that result from both terrorist attacks and naturally occurring public health emergencies. 2007 funding supports the efforts of Palm Beach County Medical Society and the HERC structure to have its model program be adopted by the state and elsewhere. 

Grant Amount:  $119,000

·         Glades Healthcare Foundation - Startup Grant 

Funds were designated to start the Glades Healthcare Foundation and provide administrative infrastructure to allow the foundation to focus on fund raising efforts for a new regional hospital in the Glades region that reaches a largely underserved population.

Grant Amount:  $70,750

·         Caregiving Youth Partners’ Project

Palm Healthcare Foundation, together with several funding partners, provided grant dollars to Volunteers for the Homebound and Family Caregivers (VHFC) to support caregiving youth.  The program supports children and adolescents 18 years of age and younger who provide significant assistance and care to relatives or household members with physical or mental conditions.  The program provides education and support services to ease the stress of caregiving, including home visits by a social worker, linking the families to existing resources, and assistance from volunteers.

Grant Amount: $100,000

·         Florida Health News, Inc. (www.FloridaHealthNews.org)

A free online news service dedicated to better educating the public on state and local health policy and financial issues as they develop.  This independent, unbiased, non-profit service consolidates and organizes health news, information and research to offer policymakers, healthcare professionals, advocates, journalists and consumers one centralized resource regarding health issues affecting citizens in the state of Florida. Members of the Florida Health Policy Center, including Palm Healthcare Foundation, collaborated to sponsor Florida Health News, Inc.

Grant Amount: $11,100

“For all of our grants, we look for opportunities to maximize the impact of funded programs through collaboration,” said Suzette W. Wexner, president of Palm Healthcare Foundation.  “We look at each grant request as an opportunity to bring together healthcare agencies with similar goals and funders with similar priorities to create programs and projects that will have a measured impact on advancing healthcare in Palm Beach County.”

Palm Healthcare Foundation has distributed more than $20 million to over 80 non-profit organizations in Palm Beach County since its inception in 2001.

About Palm Healthcare Foundation, Inc.
Palm Healthcare Foundation, Inc. was chartered in 2001 as an independent community healthcare foundation. Believing that “Together We Can Do More,” the foundation’s mission is to transform healthcare challenges by bringing together the talents and resources of the community to create innovative solutions that deliver high-impact results. The Foundation’s funding priorities—access to healthcare, healthcare quality and safety, healthcare technology, healthcare policy and healthcare workforce—are designed to empower non-profit healthcare organizations and healthcare professionals to create programs and services that improve the quality of life for Palm Beach County’s underserved citizens.  Since 2001, the Foundation has distributed more than $20 million to over 80 non-profit organizations in Palm Beach County.  To learn more about Palm Healthcare Foundation, please visit www.palmhealthcarefoundation.org.