Osteopathic Heritage Foundations

November 2004
July 2004
June 2004
January 2004

November 2004

Osteopathic Heritage Foundation awards $1.5 million to Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine for research

The Osteopathic Heritage Foundation has awarded a $1.5 million grant to fund an endowed chair at the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. This grant creates, in perpetuity, a professorship dedicated to furthering biomedical research that will advance the osteopathic profession. The funds will also be used to attract and support nationally recognized leaders in research with outstanding records of publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Franklin County Community Responsive Grantmaking Program awards $1,559,403 to 28 organizations

Twenty-eight central Ohio organizations will receive a total of $1,559,403 in grants from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation to improve health and quality of life for vulnerable populations.

Organizations selected by the Foundation to receive one-year grants are as follows:

Amethyst ($100,000) for RSvP (Rapid Stabilization Project) – to provide transitional housing and treatment for homeless and drug and/or alcohol-dependent women and their children.
Columbus Public Schools ($100,000) for automated external defibrillators -- to acquire 46 defibrillators for elementary schools, career centers and school office buildings.
Southeast, Inc. ($100,000) for Extending HOPE (Healthy Opportunities Provided for Everyone) – to coordinate, in Columbus Public Schools, mental health services for homeless children.
Wexner Heritage Village ($100,000) for VanTran – to expand transportation services for low-income elderly on Columbus’ eastside.
YWCA ($100,000) for the YWCA Family Center – to support the capital campaign to construct a new facility that will provide homeless families with a safe, stable environment as they work towards permanent housing and financial stability.
Mid-Ohio Food Bank ($97,000) for Mobile Market – to purchase a refrigerated truck that will deliver fresh produce and dairy products to low-income children, working families and the elderly.
FIRSTLINK ($94,997) for HealthCare Assistance – to fund collaboration with the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging to provide education, resources, referrals to affordable services and on-going support for older adults, persons with limiting illness and caregivers.
Central Ohio Breathing Association ($86,375) for Asthma Clinics Project – to fund a collaborative with the Columbus Health Department and Children’s Hospital to provide asthma education, referrals, treatment and community outreach designed to reduce hospitalization and emergency room visits and improve quality of life for asthmatic children and their families.
American Red Cross of Greater Columbus ($82,761) for Family Caregiving Program – to support a pilot training program in safety, nutrition and general care to improve family members’ skills and confidence in caring for elderly, chronically ill and suddenly-ill relatives.
National Church Residences ($81,000) for the Commons at Grant PEERS Program – to develop and implement a prevention education, enrichment and recovery support program for housing residents suffering from alcohol and drug addiction.
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Ohio ($75,000) for Amachi – to expand a one-to-one mentoring program that matches children of incarcerated parents with volunteer mentors from the faith-based community.
Columbus Cancer Clinic ($75,000) for home care support – to provide transportation, medication and support services to low-income cancer patients.
MOBILE Independent Living Center ($68,530) for Healthy Ways – to expand participation in a health education program aimed at reducing heart disease, diabetes and cancer in high-risk, low-income African-Americans with disabilities.
Buckeye Ranch ($51,555) for Silence the Violence – to expand a modified version of this violence prevention program to five additional schools in Franklin County.
North Community Counseling Centers ($45,819) for Freshmen Success Program – to expand this freshman-year mental health intervention program to improve academic performance and reduce the dropout rate at Northland and Brookhaven high schools.
Northwest Counseling Services ($35,382) for Kids With Character (KWIC) – to expand this mental health and substance abuse counseling initiative to youth and their families in two low-income apartment complexes on Columbus’ west side.
Children’s Defense Fund of Ohio ($30,000) for Covering Kids and Families – to provide matching funds to support efforts to enroll eligible children and families in Medicaid, reducing Ohio’s rate of uninsured children and families.
Strategies Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) ($30,000) for the SAVE Students Network – to support the school-based violence prevention program that focuses on resistance skills, self-esteem, personal power and a positive view of a personal future.
Creative Living ($28,825) for the Resident Assistant Program – to provide additional support services that enable residents with physical disabilities to remain functional in an independent living environment.
IMPACT Safety Programs ($28,552) for Reducing Interpersonal Risk for Vulnerable Youth – to support training for deaf children on self-protection strategies to help them avoid being victims of physical and emotional abuse.
Art for a Children’s Safe America Foundation ($25,129) for Arts in Community Buildings – to bring school-aged children together with low-income seniors living in temporary subsidized housing to improve the elderly residents’ quality of life through performing and visual arts.
Columbus Literacy Council ($25,000) for health skills literacy – to support a health module in the life skills series, specifically for non-English-speaking participants.
Columbus Montessori Education Center ($25,000) for Champion of Children – to provide scholarships and reduced tuition to children from low-income working families.
Center for New Directions ($20,000) – to support health and wellness education to prepare low-income women in transition for employment and career development.
Epilepsy Foundation of Central Ohio ($15,000) for the African-American Awareness Initiative – to provide educational materials to increase knowledge of epilepsy, its treatment and local care providers, as well as increase medication compliance.
National Multiple Sclerosis Society ($15,000) for the MS Visitation Program – to support continuation of this program whereby those homebound with MS receive visits from staff or volunteers who provide disease education, reduce isolation and anxiety, and make connections with community resources.
Recreation Unlimited ($13,478) for Autism Specialty Weekend Camp – to provide scholarships for low-income youth with autism to attend the outdoor camp that includes a multi-sensory program designed specifically for campers’ needs.
New Albany Lions Club ($10,000) for eye care and Pilot Dog training – to provide eyeglasses for low-income children and adults and a trained guide dog to a person with visual impairment.

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July 2004

$18 million grant awarded for improved patient care access and osteopathic post-graduate medical education

The Osteopathic Heritage Foundation has awarded a 10-year, $18-million grant to support improved patient care access and osteopathic post-graduate medical education at OhioHealth’s Doctors Hospital. This is the largest award the Foundation has made in its history and the largest gift ever received by an OhioHealth facility or program.

Doctors Hospital has a proud heritage of serving the community by caring for the underserved in Columbus and training osteopathic physicians through internship, residency and fellowship programs. While the Foundation is advancing its mission of improving community health and supporting osteopathic medical education, Doctors Hospital will enhance its services to the community and solidify its position as a premiere physician-training center. This will result in attracting outstanding faculty members, who, in turn, will attract new osteopathic physicians for training. During their training, these resident physicians will serve the community by staffing medical clinics and treating patients in the hospital. Many of these osteopathic physicians will remain in central Ohio after completing their training, adding to the area’s complement of quality physicians.

The grant also enables Doctors Hospital to accelerate the implementation of its medical education plans, some of which are already underway. Recent program enhancements have included relocating and expanding several resident-physician clinics to new Westside locations for added patient convenience and access, appointing a full-time internal medicine residency program director, and providing full-time intensivist services to support teaching and assume care of patients in the hospital’s critical care unit, according to Blom. The hospital is also recruiting a number of other faculty positions.

In addition to supporting and expanding resident-physician clinics for the underserved and facilitating the addition of faculty positions, Doctors will use the grant for online learning resources for physician trainees, a skills lab for training and evaluation, and an objective-structured-clinical-exam process to assess beside clinical competencies and interpersonal skills.

Doctors Hospital has been a significant post-graduate physician training center for decades, sponsoring internship, residency and fellowship training for thousands of osteopathic physicians in family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, surgery, emergency medicine, orthopedics, neurology, pediatrics and other specialties. Doctors Hospital’s post-graduate osteopathic medical education program has 38 interns and 106 residents for the current training year. Historically, more than half of the physicians who graduate from Doctors’ residency and fellowship programs establish their medical practice within the 46-county area served by OhioHealth.

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June 2004

Southeastern Ohio health and quality of life initiatives receive $147,328

Seven programs designed to help improve health and quality of life for underserved people in Ohio’s Vinton and Jackson counties received grants totaling $147,328 from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation of Nelsonville.

These programs were selected for funding in response to the Foundation’s January request for proposals:

Jackson County Health Department: Home Care Plus ($25,000) - Expanding skilled care services provided to home-bound elderly and clients with disabilities, this program is aimed at decreasing their hospitalizations and medication errors.
Jackson/Vinton Community Action Program: Health Care Connections ($25,000) - These funds will help establish a fund to help low-income and uninsured residents access needed health services such as prescription medications, diagnostic testing, diabetic testing supplies and surgical dressings.
Tri-County Mental Health and Counseling Services: Older Adults Mental Health Services ($25,000) - This award will help fund expansion of older adult mental health services into Vinton County, providing diagnostic assessments, counseling and community support services.
Vinton County Local School District: Youth and Family Fitness Program ($25,000) - The program will acquire needed equipment and supplies to help expand its efforts to encourage physical activity and good nutrition and to educate students and families on the connection between weight and health.\c violence and sexual assault.
University of Rio Grande and Gallia-Jackson-Vinton Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP): BRAVE (Brave, Ready, Aware, Vital & Effective) ($16,931) - With the grant funds, two disaster preparedness education programs serving youth, elderly and disabled residents will be expanded. Keeping Every Senior Safe helps older and disabled residents prepare for a disaster that would confine them to their homes, while teens in the Youth Citizen Corps Council would be trained to conduct educational sessions on disaster awareness, preparedness, basic first aid, neighborhood watches and other topics.
Jackson/Vinton Habitat for Humanity: Improved Housing in Southeastern Ohio ($10,000) - This award provides matching funds to support the construction of a Habitat home in Hamden this year and in Wellston in 2005.

The Osteopathic Heritage Foundation of Nelsonville supports programs and initiatives designed to improve community health and quality of life in 10 southeastern Ohio counties. Current and previously funded initiatives include increasing access to oral health care, enhancing health care services and facilities, improving housing and supporting nursing careers.

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January 2004

Six central Ohio children's programs receive funding awards totaling more than $400,000; five of them address the prevalence of overweight children

To help stem the rapid rise in the number of overweight children and prevent the resulting health problems, the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation is awarding $337,277 to fund five central Ohio programs that encourage physical activity, healthy diet and good nutrition among those under age 18. In addition, a Columbus elementary school will receive up to $70,000 for playground equipment for handicapped children.

In 1999, 13% of the nation's children ages 6-11 and 14% of those 12-19 were overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This prevalence has nearly tripled for adolescents in the past two decades.

Thousands of children and teens in Franklin, Delaware, Licking, Pickaway and Knox counties will benefit from the following funding awards related to nutrition, diet and exercise:

Knox County Health Department's Collaborative Overweight Initiative will receive up to $100,000 to implement a variety of approaches, including a pedometer program to encourage and measure walking, a school-based physical fitness program, a family-centered weight loss program, and a series of nutrition presentations and counseling.
YMCA of Central Ohio's Y Kids Are Fit will use its $87,538 funding award to implement national YMCA fitness programs targeted to youth participating in early intervention, pre-school and after-school programs in Franklin and Delaware counties.
Children's Hunger Alliance's Ohio Action for Healthy Kids will receive $74,739 for use in Franklin, Delaware and Licking counties to pilot test the three goals identified by the Ohio Action for Healthy Kids initiative. Those goals include expanding access to and participation in School Breakfast; ensuring healthy foods are provided to children in school, including in vending machines and school stores; and ensuring adequate co-curricular physical activity programs are available outside the regular school day. Children's Hunger Alliance, in collaboration with Columbus Children's Hospital and The American Cancer Society, will assist each participating school in developing a School Health Advisory Council to expand these programs.
Children's Hunger Alliance was also awarded $55,000 for Community Plan development. The organization will convene medical professionals, educators, child care providers, service providers, nutritionists, restauranteurs and media representatives to determine community assets and limitations, to identify community resources that are available in other cities with lower obesity rates and then to develop a 3-5-year plan to address the prevalence of overweight children in our community. The long-term goal is to create a healthier environment for the children of Franklin County and ultimately reduce the incidence of childhood obesity.
Columbus Health Department's Healthy Children, Healthy Weights program will receive $20,000 for educational materials that focus on weight management of children under six, gearing educational messages to children and the adults who take care of them.

"Studies indicate overweight children and adolescents are at increased risk for serious health conditions, including Type 2 diabetes, high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure," said Rick Vincent, the Foundation's president. "Exercise and good nutrition are key to preventing these conditions, and the funded initiatives are designed to address these issues. We look forward to the programs' achieving success."

Foundation funds handicapped-accessible playground equipment for Columbus elementary school - The Foundation approved up to $70,000 to equip a playground at Colerain Elementary School, central Ohio's only school for orthopedically impaired and medically fragile children as well as children without disabilities. Funding will enable the school to replace its aged playground equipment with handicapped accessible swings, a picnic table that accommodates wheelchairs, pads to cushion falls and ground surfaces on which wheelchairs can be maneuvered.

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