Sebelius Unveils New Grants To Improve Access To Health Care

By Gabriella Landeros

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius unveiled 26 new grants that she said will fund innovative projects to improve health care across the country.

Last November, healthcare providers, businesses, community groups and entrepreneurs were tasked with providing new ideas on how to spend health care dollars more effectively to benefit the communities they serve.

Turning an idea into an action, Sebelius announced that $122 million in grants would be awarded to some of those who rose to the occasion and developed some new innovative ideas to effectively improve health care in their communities. Some recipients have taken it upon themselves to create new ways to improve access to Medicare and Medicaid recipients in low access communities.

Dr. Timothy Buchman, the founding director of the Emery Center for Critical Care and recipient of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Health Care Innovation Award, said the new funding would increase patients’ access to health care they need at a hospital closer to their homes. Buchman said that long distance travel for adequate care is a burden for many Medicare and Medicaid patients in his home state of Georgia.

Patti DePompei, interim president of the Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital at University Hospitals Case Medical Center from Cleveland, Ohio, also spoke on the impact new funding would have on rural communities in Ohio.

“We will develop a physician extension team that brings the clinical expertise of Rainbow and community physicians to patients, in order to reach the targets of better care and better health at lower cost.”

Tags: Affordable Health Care Act, Dr. Timothy Buchman, Gabriella Landeros, Health and Human Services, Patti DePompei, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius