By KHI NEWS SERVICE

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City (HCF) has awarded 31 nonprofit organizations in Kansas and Missouri more than $4 million in safety net funding to improve access to health care.

“HCF is proud to support these organizations who are working to implement models of service delivery for physical and oral health that increase access and hold the promise of delivering better health, better health care and lowered costs through improved quality,” said Dr. Bridget McCandless, HCF president and CEO.

More information about grant recipients and programs follows:

• Baptist-Trinity Lutheran Legacy Foundation, $75,000. To provide short-term, emergency medical assistance to low-income, underinsured and uninsured individuals.

• Cancer Action Inc., $85,000. To provide patient services, guidance, emotional support and education to cancer patients living in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

• Cass Community Health Foundation, $111,853. To support a full-time and part-time dentist that will provide oral health services to Medicaid and low-income, uninsured children.

• Children’s Mercy Hospital, $100,000. To support clinical staff who provide comprehensive care for children with complex, chronic health care needs.

• Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas Inc., $170,000. To support the provision of primary medical, dental and support services to the low-income, uninsured and underserved of Allen County the Iola Clinic.

• Cornerstones of Care, $150,000. To provide nurse case management services for children in foster care in Cass County and to provide psychotropic medication review and consultation for the nurse case management programs in Cass and Jackson counties in Missouri.

• Duchesne Clinic, $225,000. To provide bilingual, primary health care, chronic disease management, preventive care, patients education, medication assistance and care coordination for the uninsured in Wyandotte County.

• El Centro Inc., $133,613. To support the health navigation program in Wyandotte and Johnson counties for underinsured and uninsured people.

• Jewish Family Services, $54,547. To expand older adult care management services, including funding for a care manager, direct client assistance for out-of-pocket medical expenses and a United Way 211 older adult specialist.

• Jewish Vocational Service, $45,000. To support the position of the refugee health care coordinator who assists new refugees in navigating their care.

• Kansas City CARE Clinic, $300,000. To support the general medicine and oral health programs of the Kansas City CARE Clinic.

• Kansas University Endowment Association, $60,176. To expand services available through the KU Department of Family Medicine-affiliated clinic at Wyandotte High School in Kansas City, Kan., using telemedicine systems and equipment.

• Kansas University Endowment Association, $35,800. To support JayDoc Free Clinic, which provides care for the poor and underserved of Wyandotte County.

• KU Health Partners Inc., $100,000. To support ongoing operations of Silver City Health Center as a nurse-managed, patient-centered medical home for the medically underserved in Kansas City, Kan.

• Legal Aid of Western Missouri, $113,010. To advocate for low-income individuals and families who have been improperly denied insurance in the Missouri marketplace under the Affordable Care Act , or who have been improperly denied coverage by their ACA insurance plan for specific medical treatment. Program staff will also help residents access MO Healthnet.

• Mattie Rhodes Center, $83,732. To support a community health advocate, a community health worker and on-site health screenings, in partnership with Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center.

• Migrant Farmworkers Assistance Fund, $92,658. To provide medical case management to underserved and uninsured migrant and seasonal farmworkers in rural Lafayette County, Mo.

• ReDiscover, $200,000. To support the demand for health care home services for uninsured clients by providing startup salary support for clinical and medical directors.

• reStart, Inc., $93,810. To provide care coordination and health benefits advocacy to homeless men and women in the adult emergency shelter program.

• Riverview Health Services Inc., $155,021. To sustain and expand services that increase access to health care for the uninsured and underinsured by providing referrals to safety net clinics; medication and medical supplies; and chronic disease education and self-management support.

• Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, $200,000. To support the care coordination program that uses community health workers to engage with patients with multiple barriers to care.

• Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, $100,000. To support radiation therapy for uninsured cancer patients referred to Saint Luke’s from Truman Medical Center.

• Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center Foundation Inc., $100,000. To ensure that pregnant indigent minority women have access to quality prenatal care.

• Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center, $200,000. The support a partnership among Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center, Truman Medical Centers and Housing Authority of Kansas City to address access to health care for public housing residents in Chouteau Courts and Riverview Gardens.

• Seton Center Family and Health Services, $250,000. To provide professional staffing, needy funds, equipment, and program support for oral health care for the uninsured and vulnerable.

• Southwest Boulevard Family Health Care Services of Greater Kansas City, $250,000. To sustain safety net health care services — including primary care, dentistry, and supportive services — in Wyandotte County.

• Swope Health Services, $50,000. To retain a full-time dentist and a full-time dental assistant to serve 7,200 low-income, uninsured and underinsured residents of the Kansas City metropolitan area, and add a care coordinator who will assist 300 patients with chronic illnesses in accessing the integrated dental and medical services they need.

• Synergy Services Inc., $114,000. To support key staff positions at Synergy’s Homeless Youth Campus onsite health clinic and a portion of the medical and dental partners’ contracts.

• Truman Medical Center Charitable Foundation, $96,956. To support a licensed master social worker to improve perinatal mental health outcomes for 125 women and their families through screening, care coordination, and provider and consumer awareness.

• Turner House Clinic Inc., $225,000. To provide coordinated and integrated primary medical care, chronic care and preventive oral health care for uninsured and underserved children in Wyandotte County.

• West Central Missouri Community Action Agency, $115,000. To provide reproductive health services and STD testing and treatment to low-income and/or uninsured people.

The safety net grants are the final round of HCF funding in 2014. For more information on applying for 2015 HCF grants, visit www.hcfgkc.org.

HCF was created in 2002 as part of the Hospital Corporation of America’s purchase of Health Midwest. It began grantmaking in 2005 for its service area of Kansas City, Mo.; Cass, Jackson and Lafayette counties in Missouri; and Allen, Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas.

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — Independence officials are considering constructing the state’s largest solar farm as part of a continuing push to expand the city’s use of renewable energy.

In July, the city set a goal of having Independence Power and Light producing at least 10 percent of its power from renewable energy by 2018 and 15 percent by 2021. City Manager Robert Heacock says companies from around the country interested in building the solar farm have contacted the city.

The Independence Examiner reports that interest prompted the city to extend its deadline to submit proposals to Dec. 23. Heacock says he thinks the city could reach its 10 percent goal by 2016 or 2017.
The plan is to use land in northeast Independence for a solar farm that would produce about 10 megawatts.

BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — Branson police say a person is in custody after a woman was found dead at a hotel.
The woman’s body was found Wednesday afternoon at Westwood Inn on Shepherd of the Hills Expressway.

The Springfield News-Leader reports Sgt. Daniel Kingsbury would not release information on the cause of death or say whether it was a homicide. But Kingsbury said a suspect was taken into custody and he doesn’t expect more arrests in the case.
The woman’s identity has not been released.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill  met this week  with United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and nominee for Attorney General of the United States, Loretta Lynch.

“Our nation’s top lawyer is a critical post,” McCaskill said. “As the events that unfolded over the past few months in Ferguson highlighted, the position of Attorney General is an important backstop in our nation’s legal system and can positively reinforce Americans’ trust in the rule of law amid intense legal controversies. I’m impressed by Ms. Lynch’s qualifications and confident in her ability to fulfill the duties of U.S. Attorney General.”

Loretta Lynch, who holds a B.A. and J.D. from Harvard University, currently serves as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York where she has successfully prosecuted numerous cases of corruption in the public and private sectors. Prior to her current post, Ms. Lynch was a partner at Hogan & Hartson, a drug and violent crime pro

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City woman has been charged with felony animal abuse and animal neglect after her dog was abused so severely that his eyes had to be surgically removed.

Jackson County prosecutors charged 36-year-old Kimberly Anderson on Wednesday in the Nov. 9 attack on the Tibetan spaniel named Roadrunner. A witness says Anderson threw the small dog off of a third-floor balcony before kicking and choking him.

Anderson was previously issued a municipal citation in the same case. She tells police she didn’t abuse the dog and that he was hit by a car.

KC Pet Project manages the city’s animal shelter and said Friday that the dog is doing well at a foster home.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Anderson has an attorney.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri parents could be guaranteed time off work to attend a school event with their child if enough lawmakers support the proposal.

State Rep. Karla May of St. Louis recently filed legislation that would allow parents and legal guardians to take off eight hours from work a year.

Employers could deny the leave if it could cause unusual difficulty for the business.

Parents or guardians would get eight hours each academic year per child. Employers could limit that to three-hour increments and require proof from the school.

TOPEKA – Five people were injured in an accident just before 6 p.m. on Wednesday in Shawnee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Volkswagen Golf driven by Hannah E. Borchers, 16, Topeka, was eastbound on Interstate 70 at Gage.

The driver hit the brakes causing a 2002 Mitsubishi Galant driven by Katrena M. Millard, 17, Topeka, to slam on the brakes.

A 2001 Chevy Malibu driven by Leetha M. Smith, 71, Hoyt, struck the rear of the Mitsubishi and pushed it into the Volkswagen.

Smith, Millard and passengers in the Mitsubishi Angela Lynn Stoneburner, 17; Dylan L. Millard, 19; Brian A. Heinrichs, 15, all of Topeka were transported to St. Francis Medical Center. Borchers was not injured.

The KHP reported Dylan L. Millard and Smith were not wearing seat belts.

BASEHOR, Kan. (AP) — A former Kansas City-area fire chief has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $14,000 from his township.

KCTV-TV reports  Jeff Theno of Basehor admitted Wednesday to stealing from Fairmont Township. The former fire chief was paid to remodel the township’s fire station but didn’t complete the required work. The felony theft was uncovered after a newly elected county attorney reviewed work orders.

Prosecutors will recommend the 17-year fire veteran get probation when he is sentenced next month. Theno tells the station that he intends to pay back all the money and finish the work.

FULTON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri environmental group is renewing its calls for federal regulators to delay issuing a 20-year extension for the Callaway County nuclear power plant until legal challenges regarding spent fuel rod storage are resolved.

The Missouri Coalition for the Environment filed its request with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday. The federal agency expects to rule soon on utility provider Ameren’s license extension for the Fulton plant, which was filed in 2011. The state’s only commercial nuclear power plant is currently licensed to operate until 2024.