Milford Regional Medical Center has announced it was awarded a Health Care and Health Promotion Synergy Initiative planning grant by The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts, Inc.

The $124,500 grant will support planning efforts to increase access for the uninsured or underinsured to basic medical care, including preventive care and screenings, according to a written statement from MRMC.

“This planning grant will enable the coalition to explore what other communities have done to improve access for all of their residents and to develop a model to pilot in 2012 in the greater Milford area,” Dr. Jan Yost, president and CEO of The Health Foundation, said in the statement. 

"This grant will help Milford Regional Medical Center to strengthen its long tradition of community service to meet the growing diversity of health care needs in the Milford area," Senator Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, chairman of the Massachusetts Legislature's committee on Health Care Financing, said in the statement. "Ensuring that all Milford area residents have full access to the right care at the right time in the right place will improve the health of the community as a whole. I look forward to continued leadership in promoting wellness and disease prevention." 

According to the statement, the project director for the grant, Dr. Jennifer Childs-Roshak, medical director of quality at Milford Regional, will work with the coalition "to develop a pilot project to improve access to care for vulnerable residents such as the working poor and underserved youth, children and elders."

Members of the coalition include: Tri-River Family Health Center, Fallon Clinic, Tri-County Medical Associates, Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, Milford Senior Center, The Latino Health Insurance Program, Riverside Community Care, Milford Board of Health, Juvenile Advocacy Group and Milford’s Health Education and Advocacy for Latinos, according to the statement.

“This is a very important initiative for our organization and our community,” Milford Regional CEO Francis M. Saba said in the statement. "And we are most grateful to the executives and staff from all the partnering agencies for their enthusiastic commitment to work with us to identify and develop the strategies that will help us improve the overall health of our community.”

For more information, visit www.milfordregional.org.