Virginia Health Care Foundation

Richmond, Virginia, July 6, 2023 – The Virginia Health Care Foundation (VHCF) has awarded 19 Virginia organizations $2 million in grants to increase access to behavioral health, medical and dental services for uninsured and medically underserved Virginians, and help eligible uninsured Virginians obtain state-sponsored health insurance.

“All of these grantees are addressing urgent and ongoing needs,” said Deborah Oswalt, VHCF’s Executive Director. “With the current mental health crisis and limited access to primary and dental care, it’s critical to ensure all Virginians have access to the care they need.”

A list of the grants awarded by VHCF follows:

Behavioral Health: Each of these organizations is taking a well-planned approach to increasing or maintaining greatly needed behavioral health services.

• ARROW Project – $37,500 to support the salary of the Licensed Clinical Psychologist to expand access to psychological assessments and behavioral health care in the Staunton, Augusta, and Waynesboro area.
• Bradley Free Clinic – $100,000 to support the salary of a full-time Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner or Psychiatric Physician Assistant to expand behavioral health capacity and increase access for psychiatric medication management in Roanoke.
• New Horizons Healthcare – $38,742 to help support the salary and benefits of a Master of Social Work graduate to provide behavioral health services to Roanoke area children and families while completing requirements to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
• Safe Harbor – $60,000 to fund the salary for a full-time pre-licensee therapist to increase its capacity to provide counseling services to both adults and children in Henrico County.
• The Women’s Center – $50,156 to help fund two mental health clinicians to provide behavioral health services to adolescents and their families in Northern Virginia.
• YWCA of Richmond – $55,800 to fund a Master of Social Work graduate to provide pediatric behavioral health services while completing requirements to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Dental: Many dental safety net practices reduced patient services during the pandemic, and both dentists and dental hygienists remain in short supply. Dental hygienists are in great demand and more important than many realize as they allow dentists to work at the top of their scope of practice. Each of these organizations is addressing the increasing need for dental services in their areas.

• Fauquier Free Clinic – $75,000 to support the salaries of a full-time dentist and a part-time oral surgeon to meet the community need for increased dental services.
• Healing Hands Health Center – $90,000 to fund the salary of a full-time dental hygienist to increase access to dental hygiene services for residents of Bristol and Southwest Virginia.
• New Horizons Healthcare – $100,000 to support the addition of more dental professionals and increase capacity of the dental clinic.
• Northern Neck Middlesex Free Health Clinic – $70,500 for the salary of a full-time Dental Hygienist to increase capacity for preventive and restorative care.

Health Care Access: The following grantees are expanding primary medical care services in their communities.

• Blue Ridge Medical Center – $84,375 to help fund a full-time Family Nurse Practitioner to provide primary care in Appomattox.
• Daily Planet Health Services – $101,250 to help fund the salaries of a Nurse Practitioner and a Physician’s Assistant to meet the influx of new patients in Richmond.
• Neighborhood Health – $100,000 to help support the hiring of a family medicine physician to provide comprehensive services for children and adults in Alexandria.
• Sinclair Health Clinic – $12,300 to fund pharmacy management software to increase efficiency and communications between patients and pharmacy staff in Winchester, and Clarke and Frederick Counties.

Medicaid/FAMIS Outreach & Enrollment: Each of these grants enable the grantee organizations to provide one-to-one application assistance for state-sponsored health insurance in areas with high numbers or rates of uninsured Virginians. These Project Connect grantees work closely with local schools, health safety net providers, health departments, and community organizations to identify, enroll or renew eligibility for those who are eligible for coverage.

• Cumberland Plateau Health District – $128,079 to fund two Outreach Workers who help enroll or renew eligible Southwest Virginians in the Medicaid/FAMIS health insurance programs.
• Inova Partnership for Healthier Communities – $374,184 to fund four full-time and three part-time Outreach Workers who help enroll or renew eligible residents of Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties, and the City of Alexandria, in Virginia’s Medicaid/FAMIS health insurance programs.
• Neighborhood Health – $222,628 to fund four full-time Outreach Workers who help enroll or renew eligible residents of the cities of Alexandria, Arlington and southern Fairfax County in Virginia’s Medicaid/FAMIS health insurance programs.
• Norfolk Department of Public Health – $157,797 to fund two Outreach Workers who help enroll or renew eligible Virginians from the Hampton Roads area in the Medicaid/FAMIS health insurance programs.
• Richmond-Henrico Health District – $65,854 to fund a Outreach Worker who help enroll or renew eligible residents of the City of Richmond and Henrico County in the Medicaid/FAMIS health insurance programs.

The Virginia Health Care Foundation is a non-profit public/private partnership with a mission to increase access to primary health care for uninsured and medically underserved Virginians. The Foundation was initiated by the General Assembly and its Joint Commission on Health Care in 1992. Since its inception, it has funded 532 community-based initiatives throughout the Commonwealth. VHCF’s programs and partnerships have touched the lives of more than 800,000 uninsured Virginians.

For more information about VHCF and its programs, visit www.vhcf.org or call

(804) 828-5804.

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Last Updated on February 2, 2024