HMSA grants help local health initiatives

Hawaii Covering Kids, a Hawaii Primary Care Association project to locate uninsured children for health coverage, has received $180,000 for three years from the Hawaii Medical Service Association Foundation.

Other grants approved by the foundation to community organizations and health programs include:

» He Huliau -- A Turning Point, Eliminating Health Disparities in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Peoples: Cardiovascular Disease 2006, Hawaii Medical Foundation, $10,000. The grant supported a University of Hawaii Department of Native Hawaiian Health conference May 4-6 focusing on cardiovascular disease.

» Advance Care Planning: A Statewide Consumer Engagement Project, Hawaiian Islands Hospice Organization (Kokua Mau), $75,000. The grant will support a statewide program to increase advance-care planning and completion of advance-care directives.

» Healthcare Financial Management Association 2006 Annual Conference: Winds of Change, Healthcare Financial Association, $5,000. The grant supported the association's annual conference in April featuring nationally known speakers on health issues.

» New Frontiers in Maternal and Infant Health Care: Ethics, Outcomes and Practices in the 21st Century, Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii, $10,000. The grant will support a conference for health care professionals and the community June 7-8 at the Hale Koa Hotel.

» March of Dimes Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Family Support, second year, March of Dimes, Hawaii Chapter, $21,936. The grant will help provide information and comfort to families during hospitalization of newborns and the transition home, and to contribute to staff development.

» Outreach to At-Risk and High-Risk Women and Youth, Sisters Offering Support, $10,000. The grant will support outreach services to help reduce criminal activities among high-risk people, especially women and youths.

» Waipahu "Uku" Education, Prevention and Treatment Program, Waipahu Community Association, $46,583, for a community outreach program and culturally sensitive home visits among Micronesian and Samoan students at Waipahu Elementary School. The goal is to reduce lice and student absences in that population.

» Developing Sustainability in Our Weed & Seed Sites, YMCA of Honolulu, $10,000. The grant will be used to recruit more participants in YMCA community activities.