St. Anthony's Hospital Receives CVS Caremark Community Grant to Help Provide Medical Needs for the Homeless

$2,500 Grant to Benefit Medical Respite Program at Pinellas Hope

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., (May 13, 2014) -- St. Anthony’s Hospital received a $2,500 community grant from CVS Caremark to benefit the Medical Respite Program at Pinellas Hope, a local temporary aftercare program for homeless persons discharged from a BayCare hospital.

The Medical Respite Program at Pinellas Hope offers temporary shelter to homeless persons discharged from a BayCare Health facility who are too medically frail to return to the streets yet continue to need access and assistance to follow-up care. Through the program, a case manager helps establish medical homes and follow-up visits with a primary care provider, transportation to and from appointments; coordinates home health care visits through BayCare Home Health, and assists with medications access and education. The medical respite program has assisted over 200 clients since the program started in 2009.

"We are pleased by CVS Caremark’s acknowledgement of our program’s dedication to provide medical assistance for the homeless and will use the grant to continue to serve those who utilize the medical respite program at Pinellas Hope,” said Sr. Mary McNally, OSF, vice president of mission, St. Anthony’s Hospital.  “Their generosity assists us in continuing our mission of caring for the poor and vulnerable and to meet the unmet health needs within Pinellas County. It furthers our goals of building healthier communities and providing access to quality health care for all we serve.”

About Pinellas Hope
Pinellas Hope is a temporary emergency shelter for over 250 homeless men and women, located in Clearwater on 20 acres provided by Bishop Robert N. Lynch and the Diocese of St. Petersburg. Pinellas Hope is located at 5726 126th Ave N., and assists the residents with job and housing placement and access to health care with the medical respite program.

About the Medical Respite Program
The medical respite program is a collaborative partnership between Pinellas Hope – Catholic Charities of the  Diocese of St. Petersburg and  BayCare Health System and its’ hospitals including St. Anthony’s Hospital and the Morton Plant Mease hospitals. As part of the larger Pinellas Hope community, the medical respite program provides crucial services to the most vulnerable adults while working toward increased health education and access to basic medical services for clients of the program that can help decrease further hospitalizations and emergency room visits.

About St. Anthony’s Hospital
St. Anthony’s Hospital is a 395-bed hospital founded in 1931 as a ministry of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany and was the first faith-based hospital in Pinellas County. The hospital continues its rich history dedicated to improving the health of the community by providing high-quality, innovative and compassionate care. St. Anthony’s has received the 2013 American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement award.  St. Anthony’s Susan Sheppard McGillicuddy Breast Center has received accreditation from both the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers and the American College of Radiology. For more information on St. Anthony’s, call (727) 953-6993.

About BayCare Health System
BayCare Health System is a leading community-based health system in the Tampa Bay area. Composed of a network of 11 not-for-profit hospitals, outpatient facilities and services such as imaging, lab, behavioral health and home health care, BayCare provides expert medical care throughout a patient’s lifetime. With more than 200 access points conveniently located throughout Tampa Bay, BayCare connects patients to a complete range of preventive, diagnostic and treatment services for any health care need. 

BayCare’s family of hospitals are: Mease Countryside, Mease Dunedin, Morton Plant, Morton Plant North Bay, St. Anthony’s, St. Joseph’s, St. Joseph’s Children’s, St. Joseph’s Hospital-North, St. Joseph’s Women’s, South Florida Baptist, and Winter Haven. For more information, visit BayCare on the Web at www.BayCare.org.

About CVS Caremark
CVS Caremark is dedicated to helping people on their path to better health as the largest integrated pharmacy company in the United States. Through the company's more than 7,600 CVS/pharmacy stores; its leading pharmacy benefit manager serving more than 60 million plan members; and its retail health clinic system, the largest in the nation with more than 800 MinuteClinic locations. Find more information about how CVS Caremark is reinventing pharmacy for better health at info.cvscaremark.com.