January 19, 2005

Hope to Expand Medication Program for Uninsured, Oral Health Program for Children with $395,000 Grant from Alegent Health Community Benefit Trust
Expanded programs will serve 3,000 more uninsured and medically needy

(Omaha, Nebraska) Hope Medical Outreach Coalition (Hope) announced today that its $395,377 grant from the Alegent Health Community Benefit Trust (CBT) will make it possible to expand medication and oral health care services for the uninsured and medically needy in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area. The grant will support the Hope Pharmacy Access to Affordable Medication Program, Sealing Smiles dental sealant program and a joint project with the Douglas County Health Department to improve oral health services in Omaha.

"This support from the Community Benefit Trust helps Hope’s work to ensure the citizens of Omaha have access to the health care they need,” stated Hope Executive Director, Shelley Kiel.

The Hope Pharmacy Access to Affordable Medication Program works with local safety net clinics to address the need in our community for affordable and consistent access to medication. For the uninsured patient, the cost of medications can become a significant barrier to controlling chronic health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma, or mental illness. “We will have the capacity to expand our program to new clinics we have not previously worked with. We project to serve an additional 800 patients in the medication assistance program (MAP) in 2005, bringing the number of patients receiving donated medications from manufacturers to 2,400. This is a fifty percent increase from 2004,” states Beth Robey, RP, Hope’s on-site pharmacist.

Hope’s Sealing Smiles dental sealant program addresses the needs of children’s preventative oral health by providing oral hygiene education, dental exams, sealants and flouride treatments on-site to students at Omaha Public Schools. Funding from the Alegent Community Benefit Trust will allow the current program capacity of 600 children per year to increase to more than 2,000 children in an estimated fourteen schools in lower income neighborhoods. “Hope Dental came to Belvedere over a three day period with a team of professionals and equipment that allowed over one hundred of our students to receive preventative dental care that may otherwise have been unobtainable. The Hope staff did a great job of teaching and put children at ease. This program continues to be discussed, commended and desired among our community of families, students and staff”, states Ann Wees, R.N., Belvedere school nurse.

In addition to expansion of Sealing Smiles, the funds awarded to support oral health care services will also provide for a collaborative effort by the Douglas County Health Department in partnership with Hope that will seek to develop medical and oral health leadership and community infrastructure necessary for improving and expanding oral health capacity in Omaha. "It is appropriate that the Alegent Community Benefit Trust grant awards were officially announced on the day that honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,” states Hope Executive Director, Shelley Kiel. “Dr. King knew that justice for all meant that every citizen’s basic needs must be met. As Dr. King so eloquently said, ‘Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires… the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.’ We thank the Alegent Health Community Benefit Trust for their passionate concern.

” The Alegent Health Community Benefit Trust was created by the Alegent Health Board of Directors to support innovative, community-based programs that improve community health and wellness, particularly among the community’s most vulnerable populations, including the low-income, the elderly and the area’s disadvantaged youth. As a non-profit, faith-based hospital system, Alegent Health is committed to extending its Mission into the community, which is to heal the body, mind and spirit of every person.