Health Affairs

Mental illness has been on the minds of many people this week, after the shootings in Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday. A University of Virginia forensic clinical psychologist and professor says in a CNN.com opinion piece this week, “The rampage shooting in Arizona is another anguishing reminder that mental health is the weakest link in our... Read the rest of this entry »

More than 30 million uninsured people will acquire either public or private insurance over the next five years as a result of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. What does this mean for foundations promoting healthier communities by investing in increased access to health care? In short, it means new opportunities, especially for foundations that... Read the rest of this entry »

The California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF), based in Oakland, announced its Health Innovation Fund on November 8. The total amount of money alone that has been allocated for this investment fund will attract notice. And what is also interesting is that this fund allows both nonprofits and for-profit companies to apply for money. The CHCF Health Innovation Fund... Read the rest of this entry »

The Foundation Center has just released a short publication on grantmakers’ use of social media, including blogs. (I include here some examples of posts by foundation presidents that have appeared in recent months on the GrantWatch Blog. Subjects range from health reform to HIV/AIDS to smoking prevention.) Also recently released is a report on what... Read the rest of this entry »

As the media have been reporting on New Orleans at the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, it is also an opportune time for the GrantWatch Blog to report on how foundations have been helping in the Crescent City and surrounding area. Foundations have awarded grants to inform the general public about the status of New Orleans,... Read the rest of this entry »

Two weeks ago, Grantmakers In Health (GIH) joined with the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, California HealthCare Foundation, and Commonwealth Fund to sponsor a discussion among funders about the roles that state and local health foundations can play in advancing health reform. The night before the meeting, surgeon and writer Atul Gawande set the stage for the... Read the rest of this entry »

Here are some more examples of foundations’ efforts. This is just a sampling, not a comprehensive listing, of what foundations have been doing. Rhode Island Foundation and Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor Announce Creation of Statewide Coalition for Primary Care Announced at a May 27, 2010, event, the new coalition, “which will coordinate efforts to improve access to... Read the rest of this entry »

When the presenters at a Veterans’ Mental Health Training Initiative symposium last week in New Paltz, New York, played the “Raise your hand if you…” game, very few participants raised their hands to indicate that they or a family member had been in the military, or even that they were currently working with clients or... Read the rest of this entry »

Group of Foundations Award a Total of $615,000 for Implementation The Connecticut state legislature passed SustiNet, the new state health care reform law, in July 2009, when it overrode a veto by Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R). (For background on the law and the role of the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, read the... Read the rest of this entry »

Here is a sampling of what foundations and others are doing in the important area of oral health care. Recent reports: The Cost of Delay: State Dental Policies Fail One in Five Children was released 23 February 2010 by the Pew Center on the States (part of the Pew Charitable Trusts). The report was funded... Read the rest of this entry »

Today, the May 2010 issue of Health Affairs, including a new GrantWatch Outcomes column, was released. This issue, which is chockfull of information at more than 300 pages, has the theme “Reinventing Primary Care.” GrantWatch Outcomes also focuses on primary care; it discusses results of projects funded by foundations around the United States. For example,... Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s Note: GrantWatch Blog invited Roger Hughes, executive director of St. Luke’s Health Initiatives (SLHI), a public foundation in Phoenix, Arizona, to write a post commenting on the new Arizona immigration law, passed 23 April 2010, and its potential effect on health in that state. SLHI does most of its funding in the Phoenix metro area. This funder... Read the rest of this entry »