January 15, 2003
Western North Carolina Project Access program receives Premier Cares Award
NAPLES, FL (January 15, 2003) – The Buncombe County Medical Society (BCMS) Project Access is the recipient of the eleventh annual Premier Cares Award for providing access to healthcare and family services to low-income, uninsured individuals in the Western North Carolina county.
The Premier Cares Award, sponsored by Premier and its member hospitals, recognizes exemplary efforts by not-for-profit organizations to improve the health of the medically underserved. Representatives from Project Access received the recognition as well as $70,000 during Premier’s annual Governance Education Conference, which took place here January 13-16.
A leading alliance of not-for-profit hospitals, Premier receives more than 200 applications annually for the prestigious award. A panel of healthcare system staff and health and business industry leaders selects the winner and five finalists, which also receive cash awards.
"We are proud to support the efforts of organizations that are out there making a real difference in people’s health every day," said Richard A. Norling, Premier’s chairman and CEO. "With this award, we especially recognize efforts to make a difference for the medically underserved and those with barriers to quality healthcare."
Providing health services for all low income, uninsured residents of Buncombe County in western North Carolina, Project Access leverages the generosity of more than 500 private physicians to provide care. The result has given 17,000 individuals access to a full continuum of care. Eighty percent of patients served report improved health, and patients’ emergency room use has dropped from 28 percent to 8 percent. The Project Access model is also found in 22 other communities across the country, which together offers 300,000 total patients the ability to have ongoing healthcare.
About Premier
Premier, Inc., is a strategic alliance in U.S. healthcare, entirely owned by more than 200 of the nation's leading hospital and healthcare systems. These systems operate or are affiliated with more than 1,500 hospital facilities and hundreds of other care sites. Premier provides an array of resources supporting health services delivery, including group purchasing for more than $17 billion annually in supplies and equipment. Other resources offered by Premier are insurance programs and performance improvement services of many kinds. Premier is headquartered in San Diego, CA, with other major facilities in Chicago, IL, and Charlotte, NC. Advocacy and policy offices are located in Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com.
About the Premier Cares Award
Premier and other sponsoring organizations have presented the Cares Award annually since 1992. The Cares Award winner receives a cash prize of at least $70,000, while five runners-up receive smaller cash awards. The competition is open to nonprofit organizations that have been in existence for more than two years, are providing creative solutions to health status improvement, can provide documentation of outcomes and impact on a specific population, and have programs that can be replicated in other communities.