Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island recently received a $25,000 grant from the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, the private foundation created by CVS Caremark Corporation, whose mission is to provide funding for health care, education and community involvement initiatives in CVS Caremark communities. Women & Infants was one of 72 organizations selected from a pool of 660 applicants to receive an individual or multi-year grant for 2010.
The hospital will use the grant monies to provide funding for its La Van program, which provides free transportation for low-income patients coming to the Women's Primary Care Center (WPCC) for routine prenatal appointments.
"One of the obstacles faced by low-income women needing quality prenatal care is a lack of transportation," said WPCC Medical Director Robert Berry, MD. "Regular doctor visits during pregnancy are important to ensure that women and their babies stay healthy.
In fiscal year 2010, the viability of the La Van program was jeopardized by budget cuts and a substantial loss of state funds to the hospital.
"In today's challenging economy, it's more important than ever to support organizations that provide access to health care to those who otherwise could not obtain it," said Eileen Howard-Dunn, vice president, CVS Caremark Charitable Trust. "The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust is pleased to recognize Women & Infants for truly making an impact in the communities we serve through their La Van program, and we look forward to working with them in the year ahead."
The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust's grant to Women & Infants is part of $3.3 million in grants awarded to more than 70 nonprofit organizations across the country in 2010. The grants align with CVS Caremark Charitable Trust's efforts to support programs that seek to connect those in need of services to providers who participate in accountable community health care programs, as well as organizations that support children living with disabilities.
According to the March of Dimes, women who see a health care provider regularly during pregnancy have healthier babies, are less likely to deliver prematurely, and are less likely to have other serious complications related to the pregnancy.
"The Centers for Disease Control report that one in two women die in the United States each day of pregnancy-related complications," Dr. Berry said, adding that studies indicate as many as half of those deaths could be prevented if women had better access to health care, received better quality care, and made positive changes in their health and lifestyle habits. "Without transportation, many area women would not be coming into the doctor's office for regular prenatal check-ups. That could be harmful to their health and the health of their unborn babies."
About Women & Infants Hospital
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation's leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns and a U.S.News Best Hospital in Gynecology. The primary teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women's medicine, Women & Infants is the seventh largest obstetrical service in the country with more than 9,000 deliveries per year. In 2009, Women & Infants opened the country's largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.
New England's premier hospital for women and newborns, Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility, as well as the nation's only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.
Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Center of Excellence from the American College of Radiography; a Center for In Vitro Maturation Excellence by SAGE In Vitro Fertilization; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the National Institutes of Health; and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute's Gynecologic Oncology Group.
About the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust
The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, Inc. is a private foundation created by CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS). CVS Caremark is the largest provider of prescriptions and related health care services in the nation. The Trust's mission is to provide funding for health care, education and community involvement initiatives in CVS Caremark communities. General information about CVS Caremark is available through the Investor Relations portion of the Company's Web site at http://investor.cvs.com, or through the Web site's press room at www.cvs.com/pressroom.