Health Equity Catalyst Grants help advance local efforts to provide equitable care
Frisbie Memorial Hospital, part of HCA New England Healthcare, awarded the SHARE Fund with a $25,000 grant to help them support the community and address food insecurity in Greater Rochester. From left, Chris Finley, associate vice president of community engagement for HCA Healthcare; Rochester Mayor Paul Callaghan; Tim Jones, CEO of Frisbie Memorial Hospital; Donald "Skip" Smith, Share Fund executive director; Jerry Rainville, Share Fund board chairman; and Megan Gray, chief nursing officer at Frisbie Memorial Hospital.
Rochester, NH — Frisbie Memorial Hospital announced today that the HCA Healthcare Foundation has awarded a $25,000 grant to Share Fund as part of its new Health Equity Catalyst Grant Program. The funding is through the HCA Healthcare Foundation’s Healthier Tomorrow Fund, a community impact fund with an initial investment of $75 million focused on addressing high priority community needs and health equity.
“At HCA Healthcare, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life,” said Tim Jones, Frisbie Memorial Hospital’s chief executive officer. “The Share Fund shares our values, and is committed to helping the people in our communities. Our partnership with Share Fund addresses food insecurity in Greater Rochester, and I can think of no better example of our mission in action than combating health inequality among our neighbors.”
The Share Fund is a nonprofit charitable outreach agency that provides various types of material support, such as food, clothing, and diapers, as well as financial support to families and individuals in need during emergencies or times of severe hardship. In addition to providing services to families, Share Fund also refers to other agencies and resources when eligible. The funds provided through the Health Equity Catalyst Grant will support initiatives like the food pantry to help families receive adequate supplies.
Donald "Skip" Smith, Share Fund’s executive director, said: “We operate the largest food pantry in the Rochester area and also deliver to approximately 60 households unable to come to us. Our food requests are currently up more than 30% compared to 2022, so we deeply appreciate this support from Frisbie Memorial Hospital and HCA Healthcare, which will go a long way toward helping our community members.”
Launched in August 2023, the Health Equity Catalyst Grant provides a one-time operating grant to support organizations and collaboratives addressing health inequities in a defined focus area in order to advance or accelerate efforts to:
- Provide culturally and structurally competent services
- Advance high-impact health equity programming
- Support collaborative health equity efforts, and/or
- Address root causes of health inequities
Funding the Healthier Tomorrow Fund at the HCA Healthcare Foundation is one example of the many ways HCA Healthcare is making a positive impact in the communities it serves. In 2022, HCA Healthcare provided charity care, uninsured discounts, and other uncompensated care at an estimated cost of $3.5 billion. Additionally, HCA Healthcare continues to invest in the ongoing education and development of its colleagues and, as an enterprise, contributed $44.2 million to community organizations in 2022.
“At HCA Healthcare, we believe partnerships are essential to advancing our mission to care for and improve human live,” said Joanne Pulles, president of the HCA Healthcare Foundation. “Partnering with organizations like Share Fund allows us to do more for our communities than we can do separately.”
For more information on the HCA Healthcare Foundation, visit HCAcaring.org.