Cayuga Medical Center to use grant award to care for patients whose primary language isn’t English

“This initiative will help advance Cayuga Health System’s commitment to meeting the needs of our diverse community and treating all people with dignity so that everyone who comes to us feels safe, cared for, and respected,” Dr. Martin Stallone, president & CEO of Cayuga Health System, said.

Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca and Schuyler Hospital in Montour Falls are both part of the Cayuga Health System.   

Through a competitive application process, Excellus BCBS’s Community Health Awards support programs that have “clear goals to improve the health or health care of a specific population,” per the CMC news release. Excellus BCBS’s Central New York region includes Onondaga, Oswego, Cayuga, Cortland and Tompkins counties.

Awards focus on improving the “health status of the community;” reducing the incidence of specific diseases; promoting health education and enhancing overall wellness; and are made based on scope of need, goals of the program, number of people expected to benefit from the program and “positive impact on the community’s health status.”

“The company’s Community Health Awards demonstrate a corporate commitment to support local organizations that share our mission as a nonprofit health plan,” Mark Muthumbi, regional president of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. “These awards complement our existing grants and sponsorships with agencies that work to enhance quality of life, including health status, in upstate New York.”