Virginia Health Care Foundation

Contact:
Debbie Oswalt, Executive Director
Virginia Health Care Foundation
(804) 828-5804
doswalt@vhcf.org

Richmond, Virginia, September 24, 2024 – The Virginia Health Care Foundation (VHCF) has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants to 29 organizations throughout the state to help fund Medication Assistance Caseworkers (MACs), who help uninsured patients obtain free and discounted prescription medicines.

“Medication assistance has always been a top priority for VHCF”, said Deborah Oswalt, VHCF’s Executive Director. “Virginians can’t manage their illnesses without the medicines to treat their chronic diseases. For those who are uninsured and unable to afford their prescriptions, the free medicines available via the brandname drug companies’ Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) are often a lifesaver.”

The MACs funded by VHCF use The Pharmacy Connection (TPC), VHCF’s proprietary software, to obtain the free medicines and a variety of deeply discounted generics. TPC includes all major classes of more than 3,600 medications covering a wide range of chronic diseases including diabetes, hypertension, clinical depression, asthma, and cancer medicines. They also assist patients with Medicaid applications and renewals.

TPC software is popular and is used by 262 MACs at 110 health safety net practices and rural hospitals throughout the state. In FY24, it was used to help fill more than 79,000 prescriptions with an Average Wholesale Price (AWP) value of $903 million for 17,631 uninsured Virginians. Since its creation 27 years ago, it has generated more than $10 billion (AWP) in free medicines for nearly 373,000 uninsured Virginians.

A list of the grants awarded by VHCF follows:

• Augusta Health Foundation: $97,253
• Ballad Health – Norton Community Hospital: $57,750
• Bland County Medical Center: $20,097
• Blue Ridge Medical Center (Nelson County): $55,513
• Brock Hughes Medical Center (Wythe County): $19,889
• Carilion Giles Community Hospital: $37,674
• Carilion New River Valley Medical Center: $38,416
• Central Virginia Health Services (Buckingham County): $50,820
• Charlottesville Free Clinic: $21,021
• Chesapeake Care Inc.: $39,039
• Connect Health + Wellness (Martinsville): $121,230
• CrossOver Ministry, Inc. (Richmond): $36,036
• Daily Planet Health Services (Richmond): $38,848
• Eastern Shore Rural Health System: $19,635
• Halifax Regional Development Foundation: $61,816
• Health Brigade (Richmond): $29,135
• Ledwith-Lewis Free Clinic (Essex County): $42,245
• Neighborhood Health (Alexandria/Fairfax/Arlington): $134,280
• New Horizons Healthcare (Roanoke): $43,544
• Northern Virginia Family Services – Healthworks: $50,424
• Northern Virginia Family Services – Pharmacy Central: $46,602
• Orange County Free Clinic: $57,086
• Piedmont Access to Health Services (Danville): $72,188
• Sinclair Health Clinic (Winchester): $50,871
• Southern Dominion Health Services (Lunenburg County): $29,133
• Southwest Virginia Community Health Systems: $126,150
• Tri-Area Community Health (Franklin/Floyd/Carroll/Grayson/Patrick counties): $73,537
• VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital Foundation (Mecklenburg County): $19,069
• Western Tidewater Free Clinic (Suffolk): $56,235

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 544 community-based initiatives throughout the Commonwealth and established multiple programs and partnerships. Combined, they have helped more than 850,000 uninsured and medically underserved Virginians obtain the health care they need.

For more information about VHCF visit http://www.vhcf.org. For information about The Pharmacy Connection software visit https://www.vhcf.org/for-those-who-help/the-pharmacy-connection/ or call (804) 828-5804.

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Last Updated on September 25, 2024