Zufall Health Receives Emergency Grant From Direct Relief to Bolster the Healthcare Safety Net in North and Central N.J.
Dover, NJ — Zufall Health was awarded $500,000 in emergency grant funding by Direct Relief, an international medical aid organization, in partnership with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). The grant will ensure that the health center can continue providing needed services to underserved patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zufall was one of six health centers in the nation to receive a six-figure grant through Direct Relief’s $25 million COVID-19 Fund for Community Health, which also awarded another 513 health centers up to $50,000 each. The larger grants recognized the additional challenges faced by the six centers that are all operating in COVID-19 hot spots, have expanded their activities related to COVID-19 care, and serve communities of color.
“We are most grateful for Direct Relief’s support and our designation for an enhanced award, especially after a sharp drop in revenue when we closed our dental centers a few months ago threatened our sustainability,” said Eva Turbiner, Zufall President and CEO. “This infusion of funds means that our medically vulnerable patients who have been so disproportionately affected by the virus will still have access to care.”
More specifically, Zufall will use the grant to continue to provide in-house and telemedicine visits to medical and behavioral health patients, expand COVID-19 testing on-site and at locations throughout its service area, offer remote home monitoring, and expand outreach to migrant workers.
“Access to primary care is what keeps people healthy and out of the hospital, and the frontline work of Zufall Health and other health centers across the U.S. is more critical than ever with the onset of COVID-19,” said Direct Relief President and CEO Thomas Tighe. “Direct Relief is doing everything possible to bolster the work and support the staffs at the safety-net health facilities on which so many patients and their families rely.”
According to NACHC, the $25 million grant is collectively the largest private donation received by federally qualified health centers in the 55 years since the first of them were established in 1965. The money was deployed just six weeks after the establishment of the COVID-19 Fund which received a groundswell of public support from thousands of individuals, corporate leaders and a cross-section of well-known artists and professional athletes. A lead contribution of $10 million from 3M anchored the fund with other support coming from corporate leaders including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and artists including Sean “Diddy” Combs.
“We are deeply appreciative of our longstanding partnership with Direct Relief in these uncertain times and its efforts to ensure that health centers confronting multiple challenges in underserved communities have the resources when and where they need them,” said Tom Van Coverden, NACHC President and CEO. “We know that many donors and contributors have helped to make this fund possible, and we further extend our appreciation to all of them.”
Zufall Health is an award-winning, not-for-profit, state-licensed community health center that has been providing high-quality, affordable medical and dental treatment to the working poor, uninsured, and underserved for 30 years. More than 40,000 patients are served at its headquarters site in Dover as well as medical and/or dental offices in Morristown, Hackettstown, Flemington, Somerville, West Orange, Newton, and on its Highlands Health Van and Zufall Delta Dental Mobile. For more information, visit zufallhealth.org.
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