FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2023

CONTACT
Teri Willard
Communications Manager, Camden Coalition
856-381-6333
[email protected]

Nikki Copas
Senior Director, Philanthropy Communications, Bristol Myers Squibb
212-546-2754
[email protected]

 

CAMDEN, NJ and PRINCETON, NJ — The Camden Coalition and the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMS Foundation) today announced the first-ever  recipients of the New Jersey Safety Net Innovation Program (NJ SNIP), which will provide $3.3 million in grants to 11 organizations focused on strengthening the healthcare safety net in New Jersey and improving health equity in New Jersey.

Awardees of the NJ SNIP grants will each receive $300,000 in funding over two years from the BMS Foundation to address the community and/or strategic capacity-building needs in their areas. The Camden Coalition will offer tailored one-on-one technical support related to project management and implementation barriers as well as other technical resources.

By providing this combination of flexible funding and technical assistance to safety net organizations, the BMS Foundation hopes to strengthen the organizations’ capacity to address inequities and build relationships with community members and other health and social services providers .

“We are proud to recognize the grant recipients of the New Jersey Safety Net Innovation Program as leaders in both spirit and practice for strong, inclusive, and equitable health care,” said John Damonti, president, Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation. “Safety net organizations know best where the greatest t need is in their healthcare system, and it is our pleasure to support their impact with The Camden Coalition, particularly in Bristol Myers Squibb’s home state of New Jersey.”

The Camden Coalition was selected by the BMS Foundation to co-design, implement, and administer this new grant program because of the Coalition’s two decades of experience working with individuals who have complex health and social needs, and its reputation as a national leader in developing equitable models of care.

“Strengthening the healthcare safety net is a central part of the Camden Coalition’s complex care model,” said, Kathleen Noonan, president and CEO, Camden Coalition. “Building the capacity of essential organizations in the community — providing them with training and funding — will improve outcomes and advance health equity. Our experience working on the ground in Camden and with organizations across the country has shown how effective these partnerships can be.”

The grantees are:

Care Plus Bergen, Inc. (Bergen New Bridge Medical Center)

• Project name: Improving Healthcare Access for the LGBTQ+ Community Through Telehealth and Navigation
• Project goals: Expand LGBTQ Wellness Center to offer wraparound services like patient navigation, assessment of social determinants of health, and referral services. Care Plus Bergen, Inc. will work together with one to two community-based organizations to create a hybrid telehealth care system.

Greater Newark Health Care Coalition 

• Project name: Greater Newark Pediatric Asthma Safety Collaborative
• Project goals: Design and implement a community-based quality improvement strategy to improve the outcomes of pediatric asthma patients in the Greater Newark communities of Newark, Irvington and East Orange. The project design will involve conducting focus groups, providing training to healthcare providers treating pediatric asthma patients, and upskilling community members to implement educational and awareness activities within their communities.

Health Coalition of Passaic County, Inc. 

• Project name: HCPC Pathways to Success for Diabetes
• Project goals: Reinitiate and expand the evidence-based community hub model to provide health education, medical assessments, medical referrals, food assistance, and social service assistance to patients with diabetes.

Henry J. Austin Health Center 

• Project name: Sustaining Health: Advancing the Hypertension Control Initiative
• Project goals: Expand the Hypertension Control Initiative by providing remote blood pressure monitoring devices with enhanced automation to 500 patients. This pharmacist-led intervention will be supported by Community Health Worker outreach.

Ocean Health Initiatives 

• Project name: OHI Pediatric Centering with Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation
• Project goals: Establish a prenatal centering service for expecting mothers in Freehold Boro to improve maternal and infant health outcomes by incorporating non-traditional maternity care strategies.

Osborn Family Health Center, Inc. 

• Project name: Improving Access to Quality Healthcare
• Project goals: Expand access to patient-centered care through the addition of an OB/GYN patient coordinator and two patient navigators to serve as liaisons between referring physicians, hospital facilities, and all other collaborating health center entities.

South Ward Children’s Alliance DBA South Ward Promise Neighborhood 

• Project name: South Ward Community Wellness
• Project goals: Expansion of services at the newly created Wellness Center will focus on increasing Community Health Workers, Social Workers, and navigation services, as well as providing family support services such as infant necessities.

St. Joseph’s University Medical Center 

• Project name: St. Joseph’s Health- Team Based Doula Pilot Program
• Project goals: Launch a pilot program to expand existing doula staff from 2 to 6 full-time doulas, providing 24/7 supportive care and co-creation of culturally sensitive birth solutions at every stage of pregnancy.

Urban Health Institute (“UHI”) at Cooper University Health Care

• Project name: Building Bridges: Addressing Social Determinants and Enhancing Community Connections
• Project goals: UHI and the Center for Family Services (“CFS”) will partner to deliver a more effective SDOH assessment, referral, coordination, and bi-directional feedback process between clinical care and social service providers. This partnership aims to provide holistic care to patients living with chronic conditions in Camden City.

Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey Community Health Center (VNACJ CHC)

• Project name: Transforming VNACJ CHC into a High Reliability Organization
• Project goals: Implement the five principles of High Reliability Organizations across all HNACJ CHC sites, from leadership to the entire employee base, to reduce preventable errors and embed a culture of safety for its patients.

Zufall Health Center, Inc. 

• Project name: Integration of MAT and Primary Care for Vulnerable Populations
• Project goals: Establish a holistic approach to serving patients with substance abuse disorder by integrating Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) with primary care, behavioral health support, and case management for patients in Zufall’s service areas.

To be eligible, applicants needed to be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in the state of New Jersey and qualify as either a community health center, free and charitable clinic, essential/safety net hospital, or a Regional Health Hub. Awardees were selected by a panel of external reviewers based on their high potential for community impact and commitment to fostering meaningful partnerships with community members.

 

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About Camden Coalition

The Camden Coalition works to improve care for people with complex health and social needs in Camden, NJ, and across the country. The organization implements person-centered programs and pilots new models that address chronic illness and social barriers to health and well-being. Supported by a robust data infrastructure, cross-sector convening, and shared learning, its community-based programs improve outcomes for some of society’s most vulnerable individuals. The Camden Coalition’s National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs (National Center) connects complex care practitioners with each other and with data, tools, and other resources. For more information, visit www.camdenhealth.org.

About the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation

The Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, an independent charitable organization, aims to advance health equity for underserved communities. For nearly a quarter of a century, it has fearlessly ventured to help those burdened by serious diseases, from the African continent to China and across the Americas. The BMS Foundation embraces innovative approaches that have the potential to reshape the healthcare system, forging alliances with government, nonprofit, academic, and private sectors to ignite new possibilities in achieving health equity. In its therapeutic areas of focus, and in cross-cutting disciplines like diversity in clinical trials, the BMS Foundation is challenging norms to create more equitable and sustainable systems of healthcare delivery — and ultimately, meaningful change in the communities it serves.

For more information, visit Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (bms.com).