Medica Foundation 2005 First Cycle Funding Puts Major Focus on Behavioral Health; Prevention, Health Advocacy and Patient Safety Also Addressed

MINNEAPOLIS--Dec. 7, 2005--The Medica Foundation made grants totaling nearly $1 million in its first funding cycle for 2005. Behavioral health programs were a major focus of the grants, with $350,000 going toward projects throughout Minnesota related to behavioral health care service interventions, accessibility and sustainability. Other areas of funding included projects that focus on prevention, health advocacy, patient safety and programs for Minnesota's high risk and underserved populations as well as general health improvement.

A study by the Minnesota Department of Health found that there were 7.3 psychiatrists for every 100,000 people in rural Minnesota. The national average is 16 psychiatrists per 100,000 people. According to the study, doctors in rural Minnesota report a 60 percent increase in the proportion of patients presenting with behavioral health issues.

Many of the Medica Foundation behavioral health grants are geared toward programs designed to help integrate behavioral health into the primary care setting:

-- In the Fargo-Moorhead area, a $45,000 grant was provided to Family HealthCare Center to incorporate mental health screening as a routine component of primary preventive care and offer mental health treatment options in the primary care setting.

-- In northeastern Minnesota, a $55,000 grant was provided to the St. Mary's Duluth Clinic Health System's Ely Clinic to improve access to behavioral health and clinical outcomes for the medically underserved population in the Ely area. The program, Integrated Behavioral Health, uses a behavioral health screening tool to help providers in primary care offices identify behavioral health issues.

-- Addressing behavioral health needs through a statewide initiative, the Medica Foundation provided a $90,000 grant to support New Connections for Community Mental Health, a program designed to provide Minnesotans with mental health services on-demand and in their own communities. It is a program of the Minnesota Association of Community Mental Health Programs, Inc.

-- In Blue Earth County, a $25,000 grant was provided to the Hearth Connection to solicit input from providers and the general public to identify best practices and effective interventions in caring for the homeless population.

"The Medica Foundation recognizes the need for behavioral health services throughout Minnesota," said Rob Longendyke, executive director. "We are pleased to be able to provide this much needed funding and look forward to working with our partners on making improvements to access and continuity of these much needed services."

The total amount of grants funded in each category was as follows:

                                      Amount funded

Behavioral Health                       $350,000

Prevention                              $241,910

Health Advocacy                         $160,474

Patient Safety                           $45,000

Programs for high risk/underserved
 populations/general health
 improvement                            $173,750

Twin Cities metro area grants include:

-- $30,000 to Ramsey County for its East Metro Children's Crisis Service Partnership. The program is designed to increase access to crisis mental health services for children and families in Washington, Dakota and Ramsey counties.

-- $14,640 to the HealthEast Foundation for its African American Prostate Cancer Outreach Project, which is designed to increase access to prostate cancer education, screening and treatment for African American men.

-- $29,694 to Children's Hospitals & Clinics for its Runaway: Home-Care Intervention Project. The project provides education, support and intensive in-home health care services for sexually victimized, runaway Hmong teen girls.

-- $30,000 to Hennepin County to provide training, advocacy and support to Juvenile Probation Officers in Hennepin County to enable them to provide health care education to their clients.

About the Medica Foundation

The Medica Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable grant-making foundation and a sister organization to Medica Health Plans, a Minnesota-based nonprofit HMO. The Foundation generally seeks to fund community-based programs and initiatives that can provide sustainable, measurable improvements in the availability, access and quality of healthcare. Email: foundation@medica.com; Phone: 952/992-2060

About Medica

Medica (www.medica.com) is Minnesota's largest HMO, largest PPO and leading non-profit and independent provider of health plans. Medica has 1.2 million members and nearly 27,000 providers in a regional health care network service area that is available to 98 percent of Minnesotans and a growing number of adjoining counties in Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota. Medica also offers national network coverage to employers who also have employees outside the Medica regional network. Medica has the highest accreditation, Excellent, from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA(R)) for the commercial health plans it provides to Minnesotans and North Dakotans and for Medicaid HMO plans. Medica's vision is to become the community's health plan of choice, trusted for its integrity, respected for its service, and admired for its commitment to innovation and efficiency.