Blue Shield of California Foundation Awards Nearly $6 Million to 33 Organizations; Twenty-Nine California Groups to Receive $4.3 Million.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Blue Shield of California Foundation today announced it will award nearly $6 million to 33 non-profit organizations that further the foundation's goals of increasing health care access, using technology to promote health and preventing domestic violence.

Twenty-nine California organizations will receive more than $4.3 million, while four national groups will receive nearly $1.7 million for California related projects.

"These grants come at a critical time, when both the state and the nation are weighing budget and social priorities. We at the Blue Shield of California Foundation are committed to the health and well-being of our communities and encourage other stakeholders to prioritize this type of social investment," said Crystal Hayling, president of BSCF.

Health and Technology Grants

Seven research organizations will receive $2.2 million in grants related to BSCF's focus on promoting technology adoption to improve the health of individuals and communities.

Technology grants include:

--$1 million to launch the Blue Shield of California Foundation's Healthcare Infection Prevention Program. This first-ever statewide project will help up to 10 hospitals across the state deploy a new technology which will dramatically reduce the rate of hospital-borne infections -- a problem that results in 9,000 deaths in the state each year.

--$1.01 million to The Tides Foundation in San Francisco to advance the technology capacity of community clinics and improve the quality of health care in low income communities.

--$250,000 to support a special biotechnology issue of the journal Health Affairs and a series of related public policy symposia.

Health Access Grants

In support of its mission to achieve health insurance coverage for all Californians, BSCF has awarded nearly $1.9 million in grants to 12 California organizations that deliver health care and education to the state's low income and uninsured populations and to one national non-profit public policy institute.

The $1.2 million BSCF is committing to The New America Foundation, a centrist think-tank based in Washington, D.C., will go toward conducting national and state policy research on health care issues, congressional study groups, and a CEO summit on health care to engage the business community.

California health access grants include:

--$100,000 to Worksite Wellness L.A. to provide uninsured, low income workers in Central Los Angeles with information, medical screenings and referrals for health care services.

--$40,000 to Children's Hospital of Orange County to provide asthma services to low-income and inner-city children through The Orange County Breathmobile.

--$100,000 to the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County to provide health insurance for children through the Healthy Kids program.

Blue Shield Against Violence Grants

Long a focus of BSCF, domestic violence prevention programs will receive $355,775 in the latest round of grants. BSCF is awarding grants to 12 California organizations in seven counties and one national organization.

The Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence will receive $20,000 to conduct the first national public telephone opinion survey on the impact of domestic violence in the workplace. BSCF funds will be used to over-sample California employees.

California domestic violence prevention grants include:

--$38,575 to The Latina Center in Richmond to expand and enhance its culturally appropriate family violence intervention and prevention programs.

--$30,000 to the Family Violence Law Center in Oakland to provide targeted prevention education about relationship violence to at-risk youth (age 11 to 18) in Alameda County.

--$25,000 to the Los Angeles-based Institute for Urban Research and Development to fund the client education component of their domestic violence program.

Blue Shield of California Foundation was formed by Blue Shield of California, a not-for-profit corporation with more than 3.2 million members, 4,300 employees and 20 offices throughout California. The Blue Shield of California Foundation provides charitable contributions, conducts research and supports programs with an emphasis on reducing the number of uninsured, using technology to promote health and preventing domestic violence. For more information, visit the Blue Shield of California website at www.mylifepath.com or the Foundation at www.blueshieldcafoundation.org.