Press Release – June 4, 2020
Beacon Christian Community Health Center today announced an infusion of $50,000 in emergency grant funding from the medical aid organization Direct Relief, in partnership with the National Association of Community Health Centers.
Beacon Christian Community Health Center was among 518 federally qualified health centers to receive funding this week through Direct Relief’s $25 million COVID-19 Fund for Community Health, which recognizes the profound effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the finances, services, staff, and patients of community health centers.
“We are extremely grateful to Direct Relief and applaud the work of Thomas Tighe, President and CEO, Direct Relief and his team that supports community health centers locally and globally,” said Dr. David Kim, CEO, Beacon Christian Community Health Center. “This much-needed funding will allow us to continue to meet the immediate and future needs of the health center, including needed testing and treatment for patients with COVID-19, as well as maintaining our community’s overall health against such chronic, ongoing diseases as diabetes and heart disease,” added Dr. Janet Kim, Chief Medical Officer, Beacon Christian Community Health Center.
Beacon Christian Community Health Center will use the funds to help continue the walk-up and drive-through COVID-19 testing program as well as offset a small portion of growing operating losses and unreimbursed patient care expenses due to the pandemic.
“Access to primary care is what keeps people healthy and out of the hospital, and the frontline work of Beacon Christian Community Health Center and other nonprofit community 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 for excellent care and trust for advice in this public health emergency.”
Nearly 30 million (1 in 12) of the country’s most vulnerable residents — including 1 in 3 individuals living in poverty, 1 in 5 Medicaid beneficiaries, and 1 in 9 children — rely on federally qualified health centers like Beacon Christian Community Health Center for their health care. That number is expected to rise as more people lose employer-sponsored insurance.
“We are grateful for this critical and immediate support as Community Health Centers work hard to keep communities safe during an unprecedented pandemic,” said Tom Van Coverden, President & CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). “We are also deeply appreciative of our longstanding partnership with Direct Relief in these uncertain times and their efforts to ensure that health centers confronting multiple challenges in underserved communities have the resources when and where they need them. We know that many donors and contributors have helped to make this fund possible, and we further extend our appreciation to all of them.”
About Beacon Christian Community Health Center
Beacon Christian Community Health Center is a faith-based community health center which shares the love of Jesus by providing quality, affordable health and wellness care to Mariners Harbor and Staten Island residents. We care for the whole person and whole family addressing individual and family physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.
For more information, please visit BeaconCCHC.com.
Media Contacts
Markiya Lee
markiya@designmattersinc.com
Sheldon Wermes
sheldonw@beaconcchc.com
