CVS Caremark Charitable Trust Awards 21 "Innovations in Community Health" Grants in Partnership with the National Association of Community Health Centers

WOONSOCKET, R.I., April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, a private foundation created by CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) today announced the recipients of the "Innovations in Community Health" grants, which have been awarded to community health centers nationwide through a partnership with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). The grants will help community health centers increase access to quality health care and produce better health outcomes while reducing costs for patients and healthcare systems.

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The grants, which total more than $1 million, have been awarded to 21 community health centers to support the development of innovative, community-based programs and initiatives that focus on the treatment and management of chronic illnesses, specifically heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and asthma.

"Today, community health centers are providing affordable health care services to more than 22 million patients in more than 9,000 locations throughout the country," said Tom Van Coverden, President and CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers.  "Through our partnership with the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, we are able to work with the 'Innovations in Community Health' grant recipients to not only help them provide their local communities with access to innovative and high quality health care but also educate the public on how they can prevent and manage chronic diseases."

More than half of Americans suffer from one or more chronic diseases every year and chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. A survey released today by CVS Caremark could explain why. "The CVS Caremark Chronic Disease Awareness Survey" reveals the public's misconception and understanding of chronic diseases, with the majority of respondents admitting that they are not doing as much as they could to stay healthy. Twenty-eight percent of respondents think there is little they can do to prevent most chronic diseases, yet modifiable health risk behaviors, including lack of physical activity, poor nutrition, tobacco use and excessive alcohol consumption, contribute most to the exacerbation of chronic diseases. Additional insights include:

• Nearly forty percent of people think what they eat has little to do with whether they get a chronic disease.
• Approximately thirty-two percent of people think smoking does not have an effect on chronic diseases beyond lung cancer.

The survey also showed that while a majority of people agree that reducing stress, exercising, improving their diet or regularly visiting a doctor can help prevent chronic diseases, more than half of people admit they are not doing much to prevent them.  

• Sixty percent of respondents are aware they should take steps to reduce stress in their daily lives but do not.
• Nearly sixty-five percent of people are aware they should exercise regularly, but they do not.
• More than half of people admit they do not take the steps they should to improve their diet.

"Chronic diseases impact everyone and the number of people living with a chronic disease is expected to increase over the next decade. The results from the 'Chronic Disease Awareness Survey' show that many of us do not know the contributors of the most common chronic diseases," said Larry Merlo, President and CEO, CVS Caremark. "Community health centers play a critical role in both helping to educate the public on health-related issues and increasing access to high quality health care services that can help manage and prevent chronic diseases."

While changes in our health care system will qualify millions of more people for health coverage, it's still a challenge for many to find quality care that could help manage – even prevent – many chronic diseases.

"Through our partnership with NACHC, we are providing much-needed funding to support affordable community-based health care models that are producing innovative programming in the area of chronic disease management," said Eileen Howard Boone, President, CVS Caremark Charitable Trust.  "The programs will use a variety of methods to help people manage their chronic disease and improve health outcomes – including the use of tele-medicine, nurse practitioners to monitor at-risk patients and wellness circles that bring people together who are living with and working to manage the same chronic disease."

Funding through the "Innovations in Community Health" grant program will support community health centers nationwide that are helping patients manage chronic disease, including:

• ACCESS Community Health Center. (New York, NY), with a program focus on hypertension outreach and prevention service workers
• AltaMed Health Services Corp. (Los Angeles, CA), with a program focus on diabetes and hypertension medication adherence and management
• Community Health Center of Cape Cod (Mashpee, MA), with a program focus on diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia management
• Dimock Community Health Center (Roxbury, MA), with a program focus on behavioral health integration for coronary artery disease
• Family Care Health Centers (St. Louis, MO), with a program focus on obesity and lifestyle management
• Health Delivery, Inc. (Saginaw, MI), with a program focus on diabetes and hypertension management
• HealthSource of Ohio (Milford, OH), with a program focus on diabetes and disease management education
• Jordan Valley Community Health Center (Springfield, MO), with a program focus on hypertension medication therapy  
• LifeLong Medical Care (Berkeley, CA), with a program focus on diabetes management
• Maple City Health Care Center (Goshen, IN), with a program focus on diabetes management
• North Country HealthCare (Flagstaff, AZ), with a program focus on heart disease and diabetes hospital discharge management care
• Open Door Health Services (Muncie, IN), with a program focus on diabetes care coordination and telemedicine
• Project H.O.P.E. Inc. (Camden, NJ), with a program focus on diabetes management for homeless individuals
• Refuah Health Center (Spring Valley, NY), with a program focus on diabetes and hypertension care management and care coordination
• SouthEast Lancaster Health Services (Lancaster, PA), with a program focus on asthma and diabetes management
• Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation (Sauget, IL), with a program focus on hypertension health literacy and health coaches
• Vista Community Clinic (Vista, CA), with a program focus on diabetes management
• Waimanalo Health Center (Waimanalo, HI), with a program focus on diabetes and hypertension care coordination
• Wesley Health Center (Phoenix, AZ), with a program focus on care coordination for hypertension and diabetes
• West Hawaii Community Health Center (Kailua Kona, HI), with a program focus on diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia management
• William F. Ryan Community Health Center (New York, NY), with a program focus on diabetes, hypertension and heart disease patient navigation

For more information, please visit www.cvscaremarkfyi.com/BuildingHealthierCommunities.

About the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust
The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, Inc. is a private foundation created by CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS). CVS Caremark is the largest pharmacy health care provider in the nation. The Trust's mission is to provide funding for health care, education and community involvement initiatives in CVS Caremark communities. General information about CVS Caremark is available through the Investor Relations portion of the Company's Web site at www.investor.cvs.com, or through the Web site's press room www.cvscaremark.com/newsroom.

About the National Association of Community Health Centers
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) was founded in 1971. Its mission is to promote the provision of high quality, comprehensive and affordable health care that is coordinated, culturally and linguistically competent, and community directed for all medically underserved populations. For more information on the National Association of Community Health Centers, please visit http://www.nachc.com/.

PRESS CONTACTS 
Joanne Dwyer, CVS Caremark
(401) 770-2898
[email protected]

Eva Pereira, For CVS Caremark                                                       
(781) 559-0424
[email protected]

Amy Simmons Farber, National Association of Community Health Centers
(301) 347-0400
[email protected]

SOURCE CVS Caremark Charitable Trust