San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
S.D.-BASED GROUPS RECEIVE FUNDS TO HELP REDUCE HEALTH DISPARITIES
Unitedhealthcare investment boosts ‘Tiger Teams’
Seventeen San Diegobased organizations recently received funding from the health care and insurance company Unitedhealthcare as part of an effort to reduce disparities and improve equity in health care access.
One of the beneficiaries was Family Health Centers of San Diego. It used the funds to help establish a program to offer at-home medical services to low-income patients.
The Tiger Team program, which began in September, serves Family Health Centers patients who are failing to meet certain key clinical metrics, either because of uncontrolled conditions or missing tests, due to pandemic-related barriers, such as fear of going to a hospital or clinic and lack of transportation and child care, representatives said.
The target population includes low-income patients with hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, or people over age 50 with chronic conditions, and older adults who could be at risk from COVID-19.
“What we are aiming to do is meet people where they are and provide them the critical services that they would need,” said Raquel Herriott, public relations specialist with Family Health Centers.
The Tiger Team program, established in response to the pandemic, seeks to ensure that patients receive the services they require in a timely manner.
Health personnel arrive at patients’ homes to perform checkups, such as diabetic foot or eye exams, or collect samples for lab work. Certain vaccinations are also offered.
The program uses two electric vehicles, in yellow with tiger stripes, equipped to provide basic primary care and vaccinations, among other services.
From September through December, the program served about 200 FHC patients.
In total, Unitedhealthcare made an investment of $1.5 million distributed among local organizations, including nonprofits, community and faith organizations, health centers and educational institutions.
These groups are: Interfaith Community Services, Champions for Health, Chicano Federation, San Diego County Promotores Coalition, San Diego Youth Services, Neighborhood Healthcare, South Bay Community Services, Healthcorps, SAY San Diego, La Maestra Community Health Centers, Cajon Valley Union School District, Oceanside Unified School District, San Diego Rescue Mission, Truecare, San Ysidro Health and Father Joe’s Villages.
The Chicano Federation’s mission is to invest in under-resourced communities with programs including care for infants and toddlers, early childhood education and housing. The money will fund the development of a community service center in collaboration with a Latino community-based organization.
“We really looked at organizations whose mission intersected with ours, and who wanted to establish programs that improve health equity and access in underserved areas,” said Monique Knight, director of marketing and community outreach for Unitedhealthcare Community Plan.
She considered that the pandemic shed an even brighter light on health equity and the challenges that many people face.
“One example is getting to the doctor’s office,” she said. “If transportation is an issue, it affects access to health care, and Family Health Center’s Tiger Team program provides one solution to that particular challenge.”
Staff writer Laura Groch contributed to this report. alexandra.mendoza @sduniontribune.com