United Hospital Fund

The United Hospital Fund of New York (UHF) is a nonprofit organization that focuses on improving health care in New York. It conducts health policy research and supports numerous health care initiatives through fundraising, grantmaking, and collaboration with other health care organizations. Since August 2017, the organization is led by Anthony Shih.

United Hospital Fund of New York
Founded1879
Typenon profit
Location
  • New York City
Key people
Anthony Shih (Current President)
George Macculloch Miller (First President)
Endowment$100 million[1]
Websitewww.uhfnyc.org

Founding and early program history

The United Hospital Fund was founded as a charitable organization in 1879,[2] raising money for New York hospitals that provided health care for people who could not otherwise afford it.[3][4] Originally called the Hospital Saturday and Sunday Association of New York City, it was formed "to obtain benevolent gifts for the hospitals of New York... and to provide for distributing these gifts... among such hospitals."[5] Its first president was George Macculloch Miller. The organization changed its name to the United Hospital Fund of New York in 1916.[6]

In 1935, the Fund established the Associated Hospital Service of New York (AHS), which later became Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Greater New York.[7] It also helped found organizations that became the Greater New York Hospital Association (1904),[8] United Way of New York City (1938), and the New York Blood Center (1956).[9]

Recent research and notable activities

In accordance with its mission, the Fund's research, policy analysis, and grantmaking focus on health care, primarily in New York.[10] Its research addresses health insurance coverage, health care quality, and patient safety. It also has been committed to reorienting health care services toward the needs of particular populations: the aging, people with HIV/AIDS, the chronically ill, and family caregivers.[11]

Since 2005, the Medicaid Institute at United Hospital Fund has published numerous reports and studies exploring ways to improve New York's Medicaid program.[12] Separately, the Fund's health insurance project has published a series of reports on the logistical and policy implications of setting up a health insurance exchange in the state following the passage of the Affordable Care Act.[13]

Working with the Greater New York Hospital Association, the Fund has led and participated in numerous efforts focused on quality improvement and patient safety at New York hospitals. These initiatives have led to lower incidence of central-line associated bloodstream infections[14] and cardiac arrest,[15] as well as lower mortality rates from severe sepsis.[16]

The Fund's Aging in Place initiative, begun in 2000, explores ways to provide health care and social services to seniors in their homes and communities,[17] particularly in naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs).[18] In 2008, the Fund set up the Next Step in Care campaign, which provides informational resources for family caregivers and works to build effective partnerships between caregivers and health care providers and professionals.[19][20]

Following the events of September 11, the Fund allocated $1 million to an initiative focused on Disaster Relief Medicaid, which helped get temporary health insurance coverage to 340,000 New Yorkers.[21][22]

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References
  1. United Hospital Fund, 2012 Annual Report, page 18.
  2. Hirsh J with B Doherty (1954).Saturday, Sunday and Everyday: The History of the United Hospital Fund of New York, page 26.
  3. "The United Hospital Fund." New York Times, November 19, 1919.
  4. Rusk H A (1954)."United Hospital Fund Called Proof This City Has a Heart; Group, Marking 75th Year, Helps Pay Bill for Less-Than-Cost Institutional Care." New York Times, November 28, 1954.
  5. Certificate of Incorporation, Hospital Saturday and Sunday Association of New York. Included in Hirsh (1954), page 115.
  6. Hirsh (1954), page 36.
  7. "Key Events In The Evolution Of Health Insurance." Blue Cross Blue Shield website. Accessed July 31, 2013.
  8. "History of GNYHA Archived June 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine." Greater New York Hospital Association website. Accessed July 31, 2013.
  9. The Fund at 125: A 25-Year Look Back. United Hospital Fund, 2004.
  10. http://www.uhfnyc.org/about_the_fund/mission_and_history Accessed July 31, 2013.
  11. "Agency of the Month. The United Hospital Fund: A Broader Vision of Health Care." New York Nonprofit Press, February 2005.Volume 4, Issue 2, pages 12-14.
  12. http://www.medicaidinstitute.org/about Accessed July 31, 2013.
  13. Crowley CF."What should NY’s insurance exchange look like?" Albany Times-Union, Wednesday, April 27, 2011. Accessed July 31, 2013.
  14. Koll, B. S.; Straub, T. A.; Jalon, H. S.; Block, R.; Heller, K. S.; Ruiz, R. E. (2008). "The CLABs collaborative: A regionwide effort to improve the quality of care in hospitals". Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 34 (12): 713–723. doi:10.1016/S1553-7250(08)34094-X. PMID 19119725.
  15. Rosen, M. J.; Hoberman, A. J.; Ruiz, R. E.; Sumer, Z.; Jalon, H. S. (2013). "Reducing cardiopulmonary arrest rates in a three-year regional rapid response system collaborative". Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 39 (7): 328–336. doi:10.1016/S1553-7250(13)39047-3. PMID 23888644.
  16. New York State Governor's Press Office (January 29, 2013). "Governor Cuomo Announces New York State to Lead the Nation in Fighting Sepsis – the #1 Killer in Hospitals – and Make Major Improvements in Pediatric Care Through ‘Rory's Regulations’." Relevant quote: "From January 2011 to September 2012, the 55 hospitals in the GNYHA/United Hospital Fund STOP Sepsis Collaborative – whose singular goal has been to reduce mortality from severe sepsis and septic shock – achieved a 22% reduction in severe sepsis inpatient mortality rates."
  17. Vladeck, F.; Segel, R. (2010). "Identifying Risks to Healthy Aging in New York City's Varied NORCs". Journal of Housing for the Elderly. 24 (3–4): 356. doi:10.1080/02763893.2010.522450.
  18. Span P."When the Neighborhood Is the Retirement Village." New York Times, the New Old Age (blog), September 25, 2009. Accessed July 31, 2013.
  19. Levine, C.; Halper, D.; Peist, A.; Gould, D. A. (2010). "Bridging Troubled Waters: Family Caregivers, Transitions, and Long-Term Care". Health Affairs. 29 (1): 116–124. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0520. PMID 20048369.
  20. Alderman L. "Aftercare Tips for Patients Checking Out of the Hospital." New York Times, June 18, 2010.
  21. Disaster Relief Medicaid Evaluation Project (December 2005). Prepared for the Office of Medicaid Management, New York State Department of Health by Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
  22. Haslanger, K. (2003). "Radical Simplification: Disaster Relief Medicaid in New York City". Health Affairs. 22: 252–885. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.22.1.252.
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