2014 Community Report
REIMAGINING
COMMUNITY
HEALTH
FOCUS PURPOSE IMPACT
At the Independence Blue Cross Foundation, we are
REIMAGINING COMMUNITY HEALTH.

We focus on the pressing needs we are uniquely positioned to address. We act with clear purpose. We invest to achieve the greatest long-term impact.

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Leadership Message

In 2014, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation completed our third and most successful year. We awarded $5.4 million in grants to promote childhood wellness, assist community health centers, support nursing education, and invest in worthy partner organizations.

Daniel J. Hilferty, president and CEO of Independence Blue Cross, and Lorina Marshall-Blake, president of the Independence Blue Cross Foundation

A Time of Action – and Reimagining

Dear friends, colleagues, and partners:

At our launch in the fall of 2011, we had high ambitions and a clear mission: to lead sustainable solutions to improve the health and wellness of our communities. Today we have become a respected model in community health philanthropy that our peers want to emulate, distinguished in 2014 as the region’s Outstanding Corporate Foundation, one of the highest honors bestowed by the area Association of Fundraising Professionals.

In 2014, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation completed our third and most successful year. We awarded $5.4 million to 125 grantees to promote childhood wellness, assisted community health centers, supported nursing education and nurse practitioners, and invested in a range of worthy partner organizations.

So it is with pride and optimism that we present this 2014 Report to the Community, “Reimagining Community Health” – a role we believe our Foundation is uniquely positioned to fill as a thought leader and catalyst for change.

What does reimagining community health mean? It means we never lose sight of our focus, purpose, and impact.

It means we generate new ideas and ask thought-provoking questions: Is there a better way to direct funding to priorities we’ve long supported? What new approaches should we explore, recognizing that business as usual will not meet the many challenges we face in safeguarding the well-being of people in our community? Which need comes first? How do we decide where to direct limited resources?

We explored these questions in a way that expresses the essence of what we do: by bringing experts and resources together to address serious issues in the health of our community.

The Foundation’s annual conference in partnership with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia provided the ultimate example of this philosophy in action. In October, we assembled a remarkable line-up of thought leaders in child wellness representing leading health systems, government, businesses, other foundations, and organizations such as the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. It would be difficult to imagine a group that could share a richer set of perspectives on children’s health – or another foundation that would bring such a diverse group together.

The results we produced in 2014 speak for themselves:

  • Securing the Blue Safety Net. We assessed the needs of the 42 private, nonprofit community health centers supported by our Blue Safety Net, serving more than 200,000 people who otherwise could go without care.
  • Bolstering the Health Care Workforce: Nurses for Tomorrow. We worked with the deans of the 22 area nursing schools to evaluate and adjust our funding for nursing and clinical education to increase the number of nurses in the workforce.
  • Addressing Health Priorities: Healthy Futures Initiative. This innovative three-year, $3 million program and research study combining child fitness, nutrition, and preventive health helped over 1,000 students at 25 area elementary schools to Eat Right, Get Fit, and Stay Well.
  • Building Healthier Communities. We increased by 32 percent our funding to community organizations that assist more than 100,000 people to live healthier lives.

We thank our extraordinary board, colleagues, partners, and grantees for their expertise and passion, and look forward to continued collaboration in the important work that lies ahead.

Daniel J. Hilferty

Daniel J. Hilferty

President and CEO
Independence Blue Cross

Lorina Marshall-Blake

Lorina Marshall-Blake

President
Independence Blue Cross Foundation

Independence Blue Cross Foundation at a glance

Securing the Blue Safety Net

Bolstering the Health Care Workforce:
Nurses For Tomorrow

Addressing Health Priorities:
Healthy Futures Initiative

Building Healthier Communities

What if we could help community health centers turn daily successes into long-term sustainability?

Quality Care in the Community Ashley Dugan, a long-time client at the Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services of Drexel University, one of 42 Foundation-supported health centers included in a groundbreaking needs assessment.

Using a Needs Assessment to Guide Funding

Across southeastern Pennsylvania, private, nonprofit health centers play a vital role in serving our community; the Independence Blue Cross Foundation has been a valued partner in this work, providing essential operating support.

Now we are doing more. In 2014, the Foundation launched a groundbreaking project: a strategic assessment of the needs of the health centers it supports. This will enable more effective future grant-making.

The Foundation commissioned Drexel University’s School of Public Health to conduct the assessment, which examined the 42 health centers receiving Foundation grants. Researchers explored topics ranging from how health centers deliver services to the impact of the Affordable Care Act.

Preliminary findings reveal critical areas in which future support could bring significant benefit, from workforce development to assistance in integrating behavioral health services. The goal of the assessment is to direct philanthropic investment so it helps health centers become more self-sustaining. This is the next focus for the Blue Safety Net program.

Launching a Community Needs Assessment to Guide Funding.

What if we found a better way to support the professionals at the heart of the health care workforce?

A New Generation of Nurse Educators Stephen Perez, pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing with full financial support as an Independence Blue Cross Foundation Nurse Scholar.

Developing a New Model for Nursing Scholarships

Through our Nurses for Tomorrow program, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation is a leading force behind nurses and nursing education. In 2014, we asked how we could redesign our scholarship support for nursing students to have an even greater impact.

We focused on the education of doctoral level nurses who face a long, costly journey to complete their degrees. But when they graduate, these Ph.D.’s can fill much-needed additional faculty positions, thus expanding the capability of nursing programs to educate more students.

Sharing ideas with the deans of area nursing schools, we shaped a promising plan: to fund significant scholarships to a small number of candidates, helping them complete their advanced degrees and accelerate these nurses into clinical practice or academia to educate the next generation.

The Foundation stepped forward as a founding funder of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Future of Nursing Scholars Program, investing $450,000 to support six Ph.D. nursing students over the next three years. The first three Foundation Nurse Fellows have begun their studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Villanova University, each with full financial support that will span their entire program of study.

Developing a New Model for Nursing Scholarships

What if we brought our health-promotion programs to the center of kids’ daily lives?”

Daniel J. Hilferty, president and CEO, Independence Blue Cross, and Dr. Stephen Altschuler, president and CEO, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, provide the opening dialogue at the Childhood Wellness conference.

Thinking Differently About Childhood Wellness

As health care leaders nationwide seek solutions to childhood obesity, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation has established a program that could provide particularly valuable answers. It is Healthy Futures, and it brings health-focused programming to the heart of children’s daily lives – their school day.

Healthy Futures is testing not just one form of intervention, but a three-pronged approach that inspires kids to Eat Right, Get Fit, and Stay Well.

In October, this promising program was in the national spotlight, as the Independence Blue Cross Foundation and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia hosted a national conference: “Healthy Futures: A Recipe for Childhood Wellness.” Preliminary findings from the first year of the initiative were presented and the potential for the program to become a model of a comprehensive approach to addressing childhood wellness on a national level was discussed.

Other participating organizations included Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Thinking Differently About Childhood Wellness

What if we demonstrated how big a difference a grant can make?”

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Genetta Yates, empowered by the Supportive Older Women’s Network, among 28 community organizations receiving grants in 2014 through the Foundation’s Building Healthier Communities program.

Empowering Organizations with Promising Ideas

In 2014, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation made grants to 28 community organizations to address priorities such as behavioral health, active lifestyles, veterans, food distribution, aging in place, and disease prevention.

One grant helps the Travis Manion Foundation support veterans in making the transition back to civilian life. Another grant helps the Legal Clinic for the Disabled to provide high-quality legal assistance to low-income people with physical disabilities. Foundation support helps Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance (MANNA) deliver nourishing meals to people facing life-threatening illnesses. It helps the Supportive Older Women’s Network (SOWN) take a fresh approach to fighting childhood obesity by guiding grandparent caregivers in promoting healthier eating.

The Foundation nearly doubled the number of organizations we support through our Building Healthier Communities program; we increased funding by 32 percent to $460,000. In each case, our goal is to fund stable organizations focusing on targeted interventions that offer the potential for major, long-term impact.

This is a grant-making strategy that is proving efficient and effective, allowing the Foundation to touch thousands of lives, often in profound ways.

Empowering Organizations with Promising Ideas

IBC Foundation 2014 partners

IBC Foundation Leadership

Securing the Blue Safety Net

  • Abington Health
    Ambulatory Services Unit
  • Abington Health
    Children’s Clinic and Dental Clinic
  • Abington Health
    Dental Clinic
  • Abington Health
    North Hills Health Center
  • Albert Einstein Health System
    Community Practice Clinic
  • Ann Silverman Community
    Health Clinic
  • Aria Health Care Clinic
  • Augustinian Defenders of the Rights of the Poor
    Unity Clinic
  • Bucks County Health Improvement Partnership
    (BCHIP)
    Lower Bucks Adult Health Clinic
  • ChesPenn Health Services, Inc.
    Center for Family Health at Coatesville
  • ChesPenn Health Services, Inc.
    Center for Family Health at Eastside & Center for Family Health at Community Hospital
  • ChesPenn Health Services, Inc.
    Center for Family Health at Upper Darby
  • Community Volunteers in Medicine (CVIM)
  • Congreso de Latinos Unidos
    Health Center

  • Covenant House
    CHOP Connections Clinic
  • Delaware Valley Community Health, Inc.
    Fairmount Primary Care Center
  • Delaware Valley Community Health, Inc.
    Maria de los Santos Health Center
  • Delaware Valley Community Health, Inc.
    Norristown Regional Health Center
  • Eagles Charitable Foundation
    Eagles Eye Mobile
  • Esperanza Health Center, Inc.
  • Family Practice & Counseling Network
    Health Annex
  • Gwynedd Mercy University
    Adult Health Center
  • HealthLink Medical Center
  • Kids Smiles, Inc.
    West Philadelphia Dental Center
  • La Comunidad Hispana, Inc.
    La Comunidad Hispana Health Center
  • Mary Howard Health Center
  • Mazzoni Center
    Family & Community Medicine
  • Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM)
    Healthcare Center
  • Project HOME
    Stephen Klein Wellness Center
  • Public Health
    Management Corporation Care Clinic
  • Public Health
    Management Corporation Health Connection
  • Puentes de Salud
  • Rising Sun Health Center
  • Salus University
    The Eye Institute
  • Spectrum Health Services, Inc.
    Spectrum Community Health Center
  • Stephen and Sandra Sheller
    11th Street Family Health Services of Drexel University
  • St. Mary Medical Center Foundation
    Mother Bachmann Maternity Center and Children’s Health Center
  • The Clinic
  • The Moyer Foundation
  • University of Pennsylvania
    Heart Health Bridge to Care
  • Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) Community Services, Inc.
    Ginny Coombs Children’s Health Center
  • Youth Services, Inc.

Bolstering the Health Care Workforce

Nurses for Tomorrow

    Bucks County
  • Bucks County
    Community College Department of Health, Physical Education and Nursing
  • Delaware County
  • Delaware County Community College
    Division of Allied Health, Emergency Services and Nursing
  • Eastern University
    Department of Nursing
  • Neumann University
    Department of Nursing*
  • Villanova University
    College of Nursing*
  • Widener University
    School of Nursing*
    Chester County
  • Chester County Intermediate Unit
    Center for Arts and Technology Practical Nursing Program
  • Immaculata University
    Division of Nursing*
  • West Chester University
    Department of Nursing*
  • Montgomery County
  • Abington Memorial Hospital
    Dixon School of Nursing
  • Eastern Center for Arts and Technology
    Practical Nursing Program
  • Gwynedd Mercy University
    Frances M. Maguire School of Nursing*
  • Montgomery County Community College
    Philadelphia County
  • Aria Health
    School of Nursing
  • Community College of Philadelphia
    Department of Nursing
  • Drexel University
    College of Nursing and Health Professions*
  • Holy Family University
    School of Nursing and Allied Health Professions*
  • La Salle University
    School of Nursing and Health Sciences*
  • Northeastern Hospital
    School of Nursing
  • Temple University
    Department of Nursing*
  • Thomas Jefferson University
    Jefferson School of Nursing*
  • University of Pennsylvania
    School of Nursing*
* Denotes both graduate and undergraduate nursing programs

Addressing Health Priorities

Healthy Futures Initiative

    Wellness Partners
  • Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
  • Control Group Schools
    St. Charles Borromeo School, Sacred Heart School, SW Leadership Academy, Stearne Elementary
  • Drexel University
  • Fit Essentials
  • Garces Foundation
  • Greener Partners
  • InnerLink
  • Philadelphia 76ers
  • Philadelphia Freedoms
  • Philadelphia Union
  • Vetri Foundation for Children
  • Villanova University COPE

Building Healthier Communities

    Organizations
  • 9th Street Youth and Community Center
  • Boy Scouts of America
  • Center in the Park
  • Citizens Acting Together Can Help, Inc. (CATCH)
  • Cranaleith Spiritual Center
  • Free Clinic Association of Pennsylvania
  • Healthy NewsWorks
  • La Salle University Neighborhood Nursing Center (LSNNC)
  • Legal Clinic for the Disabled
  • Linda Creed Breast Cancer.org
  • Living Beyond Breast Cancer
  • Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance (MANNA)
  • Northern Children’s Services
  • Pathways to Housing PA
     
  • Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
  • Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp
  • Philly Play
  • Playworks Pennsylvania
  • Ralston Center
  • Shriners Hospitals for Children
  • SpeakUp!
  • Supportive Older Women’s Network (SOWN)
  • The Enterprise Center Community Development Corporation
  • The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education
  • The Veterans Group
  • Travis Manion Foundation
  • University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
  • Youth Mentoring Partnership

IBC Foundation Leadership

Board of Directors

  • Christopher Cashman
  • Patrick B. Gillespie
  • Joan Hilferty
  • Plato A. Marinakos
  • Paul A. Tufano, ESQ.
  • I. Steven Udvarhelyi, M.D.

Officers of the Foundation

  • Patrick B. Gillespie Chair
  • Lorina Marshall-Blake President
  • Alan Krigstein Treasurer
  • Lilton R. Taliaferro, Jr. Secretary

Our Team

Staff

  • Lorina Marshall-Blake
    President, IBC Foundation
  • Sheila Hess
    Director, IBC Foundation
  • Heather Falck
    Senior Foundation Program Specialist
  • Maureen Furletti, MHS
    Senior Foundation Program Specialist
  • Marie Lange
    Foundation Program Specialist
  • Carolyn Golden
    Foundation Program Coordinator
  • Kathleen Harris
    Executive Assistant

Contact

  • Phone Call:
    1-855-422-3386
    (1-855-IBC-FDTN)
  • Email ibxfoundation@ibx.com
  • Mail Independence Blue Cross
    Foundation
    1901 Market Street
    37th floor
    Philadelphia, PA 19103-1480