Vivent Health Receives $50,000 from Local Pablo Foundation
Gift will support improving health equity and outcomes for people living with and at-risk for HIV in Eau Claire.
Eau Claire, Wisc. – March 22, 2021 – Vivent Health announced today that they are the recipient of a $50,000 grant award from Pablo Foundation. This gift, the largest grant opportunity of its kind in Eau Claire, will ensure over 111 case management clients and 3,535 prevention clients affected by HIV in the Eau Claire area will continue to have access to medical case management, in-house food pantry, behavioral health services, legal services, insurance enrollment assistance and HIV prevention including sterile needle exchange and drug overdose prevention, both during the COVID-19 pandemic and well into the future.
Vivent Health and Pablo Foundation share the belief that the health and wellness of a person is multi-dimensional and that an integrated, patient-centered model of care is key to delivering the best health outcomes possible in the Eau Claire community. Much like the COVID-19 pandemic, HIV increasingly affects underserved populations; 89% of Vivent Health clients in Eau Claire live at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, 77% depend on either Medicare and Medicaid or have no healthcare coverage and a quarter of clients are at-risk for homelessness. For Vivent Health clients to thrive, basic needs like food security, housing and affordable medications must be met.
“Thanks to the generosity of Pablo Foundation, we can remain relentless in providing the best, inclusive health care and prevention services to at-risk and immunocompromised individuals and their families in the Eau Claire community,” said Margaret Lidstone, Chief Development Officer for Vivent Health. “Our evolving service delivery model throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, along with our recently remodeled Eau Claire location, are examples of our steadfast commitment to helping people living with and at-risk for HIV in Eau Claire thrive, while also allowing us to continue in pursuit of a world without HIV/AIDS.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unique challenges that Vivent Health is taking decisive action to confront and overcome, including adapting its service delivery model to offer curbside food pantry pick-ups, medication deliveries and distribution of free at-home HIV test kits. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, our food pantry in Eau Claire, WI has seen a 20% increase in demand, we have increased access to tele-health appointments that include routine depression screenings and a wide array of counseling services, and our tele-case management services are doing weekly phone calls with all clients to assess physical and mental health to ensure that any health needs are immediately addressed. The partnership with Pablo Foundation strengthens Vivent Health’s unwavering commitment of meeting the evolving needs of patients and clients.
“Our partnership with Vivent Health aligns directly with our goal of improving the health and well-being of all members of our community,” commented MaiVue Xiong, Executive Director at Pablo Foundation. “Vivent Health is a leader in providing comprehensive care to an extremely vulnerable population in our community, and we are grateful for the opportunity to ensure holistic health and wellness for a high-risk population, especially during a pandemic.”
Vivent Health will continue to provide comprehensive care, treatment and prevention services to improve the health and quality of life of people living with and at-risk for HIV. At the core of its mission is to help close gaps in care through innovative health care and prevention strategies that meet the needs of people in the Eau Claire community. We are committed to addressing holistic care ensuring the people we serve have the critical tools needed to achieve the best health outcomes amidst the ongoing HIV, sexually transmitted infection, opioid and COVID-19 epidemics.
VIVENT HEALTH
Vivent Health is a nationally recognized leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Vivent Health is best known for its high-quality HIV patient outcomes and operates the only HIV Medical Home in America recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The HIV Medical Home model of care offers integrated health and social services including medical, dental, mental health and pharmacies, along with case management and social support provided by a team of professionals dedicated to patient care. Vivent Health is also a leading provider of innovative and aggressive prevention services that help at-risk individuals remain HIV negative. Vivent Health operates in 15 locations in Colorado, Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin, and serves tens of thousands of people at-risk for HIV, and more than 8,000 people living with HIV annually. To learn more about Vivent Health go to www.viventhealth.org.
PABLO FOUNDATION
Founded at the end of 2017 in Eau Claire, the mission of the Pablo Foundation is to create a model for a healthy and sustainable community. The Foundation supports housing, health, education, and the arts in the greater Eau Claire area. To learn more about Pablo Foundation go to www.pablofoundation.org.