Families First Receives $50K from Foundation

PORTSMOUTH, NH - Medtronic recently announced that Families First Health & Support Center is the recipient of a two-year Health Access Grant from the Medtronic Foundation in recognition of their continued commitment to improving access to healthcare in the Seacoast region.

Submitted by Margie Wachtel for Families First Health & Support Center

Families First was nominated by local Medtronic employees working at the Advanced Energy business unit in Portsmouth. Grant funds will be used over the next two years to help cover unreimbursed services provided to patients with chronic diseases.

Families First cares for around 2,000 patients living with a chronic disease such as diabetes, asthma, and hypertension. Ninety-five percent of these patients live at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

“Families First looks at the whole person and realizes that one patient may need the support of many health care professionals in addition to medical providers, such as a certified diabetes educator, nutritionist, care coordinator, and counselor,” said Executive Director Helen Taft. “Even when patients have insurance, it often doesn’t cover such services. And for uninsured or underinsured patients, those services would come at a steep price without community support like Medtronic’s grant. Access to these support services may make the difference that helps a person with a chronic disease attain good health.”

Josh Vose MD, Medical Director for the Advanced Energy business, led the efforts to provide the grant to Families First.

“At Medtronic, we’re driven by a belief that access to quality healthcare is fundamental for everyone around the world, and it starts right here, locally, in the Seacoast region,” Vose stated. “Through the Medtronic Foundation, we invest in health access initiatives that support and recognize community-based organizations, allowing them to continue and expand their great work. We’ve had a long standing relationship with Families First and have witnessed first hand the difference they are making in people’s lives in this area.”

Medtronic Foundation Health Access Grants are awarded in 72 different communities around the world in recognition of community-based programs and organizations that demonstrate a commitment to expanding access to chronic disease care for the underserved.

Learn more at 603-422-8208 or FamiliesFirstSeacoast.org.

Caption: Medtronic awarded Families First Health & Support Center a $50,000 Health Access Grant to help cover unreimbursed services provided to patients with chronic disease. Here, Families First’s Medical Director, Dr. Eric Samuel, center, is pictured during a tour of Families First with Medtronic’s Global Communications Manager Brett Cromwell, left, and Medical Director Dr. Josh Vose.