FAYETTEVILLE – June 21, 2020 – Cape Fear Valley Health has been awarded $149,747 from the North Carolina Healthcare Foundation’s COVID-19 “Fill the Gap” Response Fund. The money will help fund three different needs within the health system.
The needs include behavioral health support for frontline healthcare workers, enhanced discharge support for underserved patients, and increasing nursing coverage to allow additional breaks in COVID-19 treatment units. The breaks are needed due to mandatory full personal protective equipment while working on the units.
“This grant money will provide much needed assistance for Cape Fear Valley as we continue to diagnose and care for patients struggling to recover from COVID-19,” said Mike Nagowski, Cape Fear Valley Health CEO.
Totaling $1.6 million, the “Fill the Gap” Response Fund was created to assist people and places disproportionately impacted by the novel coronavirus. That includes people of color, frontline essential workers and rural communities.
“The pandemic has exacerbated health and economic challenges already present in rural communities and vulnerable populations around the state,” said Julia Wacker, North Carolina Healthcare Foundation Senior Vice President. “They are often hit harder and take longer to recover.”
The North Carolina Healthcare Foundation called for grant requests in May from healthcare, human service, safety net and grassroots organizations dramatically affected by the pandemic. The foundation then granted 19 awards, averaging $87,635.
Lead funders of the initiative include the David A. Tepper Foundation, Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, State Employee’s Credit Union Foundation, and The Duke Endowment.