Parish Outreach Center receives grant for diabetic care program

The Geneseo Parish Outreach Center, a clinic providing free or low-cost medical services to patients in and around Livingston County, is implementing a project focused on providing patients with comprehensive diabetic preventative care.

The Outreach Center has received a $10,000 grant from the CVS Health Foundation, a private charitable organization created by CVS Health, and the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics to help fund the project.

The grant will allow the Outreach Center to provide preventative care and health counseling to help 25 patients with diabetes better manage their condition. The care will include A1C testing, annual eye exams, annual preventative dental care, semi-annual podiatry checkups, cholesterol and urine micro albumin screening. Patients will also receive diabetic health counseling to help them maintain their care regimen. A health insurance navigator will be available to help patients identify funding options, so their future healthcare and diabetic preventative services are covered.

“Diabetes affects many of our patients and can be difficult to manage because it requires ongoing medical care and counseling to ensure lifestyle changes and medications are recommended and adhered to,” said Donna Flaherty, executive director of the Geneseo Parish Outreach Center. “As the only clinic providing free or low-cost medical services in this multi-county rural area, this grant will allow the Geneseo Parish Outreach Center to provide the same quality diabetic care to patients in need.”

The Outreach Center is one of 49 free clinics across the country that received a share of $1 million in grants. 

“The rising cost of healthcare can make finding quality and affordable care harder to come by for many Americans,” said Eileen Howard Boone, president of the CVS Health Foundation. “Through our support of the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, we’re able to increase access to quality care, improve chronic disease management and care coordination to help improve health outcomes for the most vulnerable patients and reduce health care costs in the communities we serve.” 

To date, CVS Health and its Foundation have contributed nearly $1.7 million consisting of grants, event sponsorships, foundation scholarships, gift cards and product donations, among other initiatives and items, to nonprofits in the state of New York that align with CVS Health’s purpose of helping people on their path to better health.

The new funds bring the Foundation’s total contribution to NAFC to more than $4.5 million since 2015.