Excellus offering nonprofits funding to deal with racial and ethnic health disparities

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Nonprofit organizations can apply for funding to help fund health and wellness programs that “address racial and ethnic health disparities in upstate New York.”

It’s part of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield’s Health Equity Awards, whose application period opened Monday and closes at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 15.

“At Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, the health of our communities is at the center of everything we do. Together we can confront the crisis in health disparities, embrace and address long-standing gaps in care, and bridge health equity gaps in our underserved communities,” Dr. Gina Cuyler, VP, health equity and community investments, at Excellus, said in a news release. “That’s why we fund programs that improve access to care, advance specific health outcomes and support organizations in our community that share our mission.”

Nonprofit organizations in Excellus’ service area can apply for Health Equity Awards. Application proposals must include “clear, defined goals for reducing health disparities and improving health equity for people that face a higher burden of health inequities and social disadvantages.”

Excellus is requiring organizations to specify how funding will “measurably assist” in improving racial and ethnic health-equity outcomes.

Health Equity categories include, “but are not limited to,” reducing health disparities in racial, ethnic, LGBTQ communities; people with disabilities; people living in rural or urban communities; or other groups of people that may be at a higher risk for medical issues and conditions (chronic or acute); behavioral-health or mental-health conditions; and negative outcomes from the above, including death or suicide.

For additional information and the online application, those interested can visit www.excellusbcbs.com/community, scroll to the Health Equity Awards, and click “Submit Application.”

Excellus will announce award winners in mid-November.

Excellus operates in 31 upstate New York counties, organized into four regions, including:  

• Central New York region (Cayuga, Cortland, Onondaga, Oswego and Tompkins counties)
• Southern Tier region (Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Tioga, Schuyler and Steuben counties)
• Utica region (Clinton, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego and St. Lawrence counties.)
• Rochester region (Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne and Yates counties)