The Sisters of Providence Health System received $2 million state grant and the Holyoke Medical Center received $925,000.
BOSTON – Gov. Deval L. Patrick on Tuesday awarded $5.1 million in grants to hospitals and community health centers across the state, including more than half the money to two hospitals in Western Massachusetts.
The Sisters of Providence Health System, which operates Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, received $2 million.
The Holyoke Medical Center received $925,000 for improving information technology and for psychiatric care. The medical center, for example, will develop procedures for receiving psychiatric medication histories of Medicaid patients from pharmacy databases in order to boost care and assure people continue to use medications.
Hank J. Porten, the president and chief executive of Holyoke Medical Center, said he was very pleased with the grant. Porten said the grant is essential for improving information technology at the medical center and for monitoring and caring of psychiatric patients.
Hank J. PortenDaniel P. Moen, president and CEO of the Sisters of Providence Health System, said the $2 million will pay for several projects to change and improve health care.
"We're thrilled the Patrick administration recognizes the work we do and recognizes the need in the area," Moen said. "We're certainly thanking the Patrick administration and also our legislative delegation."
Moen said the grant will be used to intervene with patients who frequently use the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center and then connect them with primary care physicians.
Daniel Moen, president and CEO of Sisters of Providence Health System.The grant will also be used to continue a move toward a new system of payments for health care being advocated by the Patrick administration, Moen said. Instead of receiving a fee for each service, hospitals would be paid a set amount each month to care for a specific group of patients, Moen said.
The grant will also be used in part to finance an effort at the health system's Providence Behavioral Health Hospital in Holyoke to boost followup care for patients who are discharged. Patients would be connected to a counselor or other health professional for treatment, Moen said.The grant would also help develop protocols for receiving psychiatric medication histories of MassHealth members from pharmacy databases in order to promote quality care, according to the administration's press release.
In all, the grants went to 19 hospitals and community health centers.
The Community Health Center of Franklin County in Montague also received $30,000 for information technology.
"We will continue to support hospitals and community health centers throughout the Commonwealth as they transition towards providing more accessible, and cost-effective health care for our residents," Patrick said in a statement. "This funding helps providers improve services to patients and ultimately helps control rising health care costs."