Coordinated Care Invests More Than $2 Million Dollars in Washington Communities

Date: 05/12/22

Managed Care Organization Partners with More Than 80 Local Organizations to Help Improve the Health of Communities.

(TACOMA, Wash.) May 12, 2022 – Whole-person healthcare requires partnerships and thinking outside the box, so local managed care organization Coordinated Care invested in expert local solutions to help make positive impacts in the health of Washingtonians.

In 2021, Coordinated Care awarded over 80 organizations throughout Washington with more than $2 million in grants to help deliver on the company's mission to transform the health of its local communities, one person at a time. The health plan utilized an application process in the later part of the year, searching for innovative ideas and expertise within three categories known to impact wellbeing including equity, social determinants of health, and capacity building.

"We understand healthcare is influenced by factors beyond just the scope of providers, health plans, and even members," said Beth Johnson, President and CEO of Coordinated Care. "Working with partners who have expertise both in their regions and their fields helps make these dollars go further to connect with Washingtonians where they are and help close those gaps that keep people from getting to medical appointments, accessing food, addressing housing needs, or identifying supportive resources. Our work needs to be a collaborative effort to show lasting results, and we received some outstanding applications in this process that we are excited to support."

The 80+ projects include innovative ideas like funds to food banks that are redesigning their spaces to provide clients more choice and dignity with a grocery store look and feel; scholarships for community college students working toward healthcare careers who may need financial aid for books, childcare, transportation, etc.; and a text line for Community Minded Enterprises in Spokane to serve their members/clients. 

"We are having great success connecting with parents and caregivers using the Quip Text Line guiding and supporting them with educational materials, activities, and other resources during a time when in-person opportunities are more difficult to access," said Jan Thoemke, Interim CEO for Community-Minded Enterprises. "We are grateful to Coordinated Care for their generous support of the Quip App for use with Recovery Café Spokane members."

Additionally, Huy, an indigenous religious freedoms advocacy organization, received a grant from Coordinated Care to support its efforts to rehabilitate indigenous prisoners and prepare them for successful reentry into society.

"We're thrilled Coordinated Care supports innovative ways to keep indigenous communities healthy," said Gabe Galanda, Huy Chairman. "They recognized the work we're doing in state prisons to provide indigenous cultural and religious rehabilitation opportunities, especially how it aligns with their efforts to get our relatives healthier and keep them healthy."

Coordinated Care concentrates its community giving efforts on three areas: equity projects addressing healthcare disparities among BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, incarcerated, and other underrepresented communities; social determinants of health work, like efforts to address food insecurity, education, transportation, and housing needs; and capacity building ideas to address workforce shortages and other barriers to care.

Coordinated Care continues to look for alternative, sometimes unconventional approaches to reaching vulnerable and overlooked neighbors throughout the state.

For more information on Coordinated Care’s Community Giving efforts, visit CoordinatedCareHealth.com/Giving.