Community Foundation of Switzerland County Inc.
The Community Foundation of Switzerland County, Inc. (CFSCI) has received a grant of $467,327 from Lilly Endowment Inc. through the Community Leadership Implementation Grants component of the eighth phase of its Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VIII) initiative. This is one of 30 implementation grants being awarded through GIFT VIII, a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative designed to support the efforts of community foundations and their partners to strengthen quality of life for the people in the towns, cities, counties and regions they serve.
For CFSCI’s GIFT VIII Community Leadership Implementation Grant proposal, it was important that the focus be on increasing health services for underserved residents. CFSCI will collaborate with multiple public and nonprofit organizations to bring select health-related services closer to residents in greatest need, especially those who currently cannot drive to Vevay or beyond for essential health services. Live Well Switzerland County, a three-year pilot program, aims to improve the overall health and well-being of Switzerland County residents.
While Live Well Switzerland County consists of several different programs and projects, CFSCI only requested grant funds from the GIFT VIII program for the lead project, which was the purchase of a mobile health clinic and a portion of the costs for operating one. At a total cost of $467,327, the GIFT VIII grant will cover these costs for three years, which will give the mobile health clinic the opportunity to become self-sustaining.
Mobile health clinics are a proven method of providing a wide variety of health services to vulnerable populations. They help underserved communities overcome common barriers to accessing healthcare, including time and geography, and have demonstrated improvements in health outcomes and reduction in costs. Switzerland County’s mobile health clinic will provide a wide range of primary care services to all ages in the county including basic health assessments such as annual physicals, well-child visits, preventative screenings and check-ups to monitor overall health. The mobile health clinic will also provide flu, pneumonia and other immunizations, as well as chronic disease management, health education and treatment for minor injuries and illnesses. Point-of-care testing (POCT) will be provided for strep, flu, COVID, pregnancy and urine drug screens, and labs can be drawn to be sent out for testing. Referrals will be made for services such as medical specialties, mental health, substance abuse and medical imaging. Switzerland County residents will receive the same careful attention inside of a mobile health clinic as they would in a more traditional general practice or outpatient setting. Mobile health clinic vehicles operate as rolling medical offices and to date, there are only about a dozen such vehicles in Indiana. The mobile health clinic will have regularly scheduled hours at various geographic locations throughout the county.
While CFSCI secured the Lilly Endowment GIFT VIII grant, INcompass Healthcare will be the organization that owns and operates the mobile health clinic. INcompass is a nonprofit organization founded in 1967 to meet the needs of Southeastern Indiana by becoming the region’s first behavioral health organization. They offer behavioral health, addiction services, and primary care to individuals and families in Dearborn, Franklin, Ripley, Ohio and Switzerland County.
Through the GIFT VIII process, CFSCI’s Board of Directors recognized that bettering the overall health of our community is of the utmost importance and will benefit from comprehensive initiatives involving many organizations. On August 15, 2024, CFSCI unanimously approved a commitment of $170,438 to Live Well Switzerland County. This is CFSCI’s largest proactive initiative in the Foundation’s history and will launch in January of 2025. While more details will come in the near future, there will be eight additional projects aside from the mobile health clinic that will focus on the health and well-being of Switzerland County residents.
For more information on the Live Well Switzerland County initiative, stop in the Community Foundation of Switzerland County office at 303 Ferry Street in Vevay, call 812-427-9160 or email info@cfsci.org.
Posted on December 24, 2024
Posted on December 6, 2024