Fallon Community Health Plan awards $5,000 to Pediatrics West
Grant money to help create sexuality teaching program
Worcester, Mass., December 12, 2007—Fallon Community Health Plan (FCHP) will award $5,000 to Pediatrics West, P.C., for its Smart Sex program. The funding will help Pediatrics West create age appropriate material for its teenage patients. It will also offer discussions on the topics of abstinence, delaying sexual activity, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, and various birth control methods.
“Smart Sex is designed to educate young teenagers about making informed, responsible decisions as it pertains to their reproductive and sexual health,” said Jessica Hennessey, C.P.N.P., Program Director. “We want to provide teens with a safe place to come and seek information related to sexual health, and we plan to offer classes and educational clinics for our patients and their parents to attend.”
Through education and information, the Smart Sex program aims to assist in the delay of the initiation of sex, as well as reduce the number of sexual partners, frequency of sex, and increase the use of condoms and contraception among sexually active participants in Pediatrics West’s younger population.
“We as health care providers believe that young people have a right to medically sound information that will help protect their reproductive and sexual health, and when combined with appropriate education and support, that they are capable of making responsible decisions,” added Hennessey. “It’s our responsibility to be available to our patients and to re-enforce the information given to them at the school level.”
Every year, Fallon Community Health Plan seeks grant applications from contracted physicians dedicated to improving the health of communities throughout Massachusetts.
“We are pleased to support Pediatric West and this unique program,” said Eric H. Schultz, President and CEO, FCHP. “Through this program, young adults will now have a place to go to obtain real, accurate information about this very important topic.”
Lauren M. Petit
lauren.petit@fchp.org
About FCHP
Founded in 1977, Fallon Community Health Plan provides health care services designed to meet the unique and changing needs of all we serve. FCHP is the only health plan in Massachusetts that is both an insurer and provider of care. Our product portfolio includes a variety of group and individual health plan options (HMO, POS, PPO, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans) featuring flexible and innovative benefit designs. We administer fully-insured and self-insured funding arrangements with customized services for employers. Our uniquely developed provider networks offer high-quality, cost-effective, coordinated care and give our members access to doctors and hospitals throughout Massachusetts. We also offer a broad spectrum of services and programs to ensure our members, at every stage of life, remain as healthy and productive as possible. FCHP is a provider of care through its Summit ElderCareSM program, an advanced and completely integrated program that offers seniors and their caregivers an alternative to nursing home placement. Our continued commitment to deliver high-quality health care and exceptional customer service has earned FCHP consistent ratings as one of the nation’s top health plans, and in 2007, placed our Medicare and Medicaid health plans as the best in the nation. FCHP is the only health plan in Massachusetts to have been awarded “Excellent” Accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance for our HMO, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid products.